活埋 (huó mái) — to bury alive | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

verb

to bury alive

Examples

活埋。
Gǔ dài yǒu xiē jūn zhǔ huì bǎ fàn rén huó mái.
In ancient times, some rulers would bury prisoners alive.
活埋。
Zhè zuò chéng zài zhàn zhēng zhōng bèi huó mái le shù qiān rén.
Thousands of people were buried alive in this city during the war.
活埋。
Nà zhǒng huó mái de xíng fá yǐ jīng bèi fèi chú le.
That kind of punishment of burying alive has already been abolished.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

活 means alive and 埋 means to bury; together they mean to bury someone while still alive.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

𠯑

𠯑𠯑活huó

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

活 is built from 氵 (water) and 𠯑, which shows the sound; 𠯑 later changed into 舌.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎoplant

Sound part声符shēngfú

貍

貍lí埋mái

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

An earlier form paired 艹 (plant) with 貍 (lí) for sound. The form 埋 later shows earth with a sound part.

Appears in

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