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监工 (jiān gōng) — overseer; supervisor; foreman

Definition

监工 (jiān gōng) is the person who watches and directs workers on site, like a foreman — focused on the hands-on role at a workplace, not the more general 管理 ('manage').

noun
overseersupervisorforeman
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 监工。
    Tā shì gōng dì de jiān gōng.
    He is the foreman of the construction site.
  • 监工。
    jiān gōng Měi tiān jiǎn chá jìn dù.
    The supervisor checks the progress every day.
  • 监工。
    Lǎo bǎn qǐng le yí wèi jiān gōng.
    The boss hired an overseer.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

监jiānsupervise
工gōngwork

监 means to supervise and 工 means work, so the sense is supervising work and the person who does it.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 監; 监 is its simplified writing.

  • 臥臥wòa person with an emphasized eye
  • 皿皿mǐncontainer

The traditional form 監 shows 臥, a person with an emphasized eye, looking into 皿, a container; the simplified 监 is a later shorthand.

Open 监 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 工 is a picture of a bladed tool used to plow ground or mark a border; some read it as a carpenter's square.

Open 工 →
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