虫灾 (chóng zāi) — plague of insects; insect infestation (that damages crops)

Definition

noun
plague of insectsinsect infestation (that damages crops)

Examples

  • 虫灾。
    Jīn nián hěn duō dì fāng dōu zāo shòu le yán zhòng de chóng zāi.
    Many places suffered from serious insect plagues this year.
  • 虫灾，。
    Nóng mín zuì hài pà yù dào chóng zāi, yīn wèi huì huǐ diào zhuāng jia.
    Farmers fear insect plagues the most because they can destroy crops.
  • 虫灾。
    Gǔ dài wén xiàn zhōng yǒu bù shǎo guān yú chóng zāi de jì zǎi.
    There are quite a few records of insect plagues in ancient texts.

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.

虫chónginsect
灾zāidisaster

虫 (insects) specifies the kind of 灾 (disaster), an infestation that harms crops.

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 蟲; 虫 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 蟲 is the one the reference discusses; 虫 is also a traditional character on its own.

Open 虫 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 災; 灾 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
火火huǒfire
Sound part声符shēngfú
𡿧
𡿧𡿧災zāi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 災 combines 火 (fire) with 𡿧, an old picture of flowing water that supplied the sound; the simplified 灾 is a shorthand and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 灾 →

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