裂变 (liè biàn) — (nuclear) fission; great changes, transformatio…

Definition

Literally 'nuclear fission,' but in modern Chinese business and social commentary it is widely used figuratively for explosive, self-propagating growth or transformation (a viral 'fission-like' spread).

(nuclear) fissiongreat changestransformation (figurative)

Examples

裂变。
Yuán zǐ hé liè biàn huì shì fàng chū jù dà de néng liàng.
Nuclear fission releases enormous amounts of energy.
裂变。
Zhè jiā gōng sī tōng guò liè biàn shì fā zhǎn xùn sù kuò zhāng.
This company expanded rapidly through fission-like growth.
裂变。
Shè huì jié gòu zhèng zài jīng lì yì chǎng shēn kè de liè biàn.
The social structure is undergoing a profound fission.

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.

裂lièsplit

变biànchange

裂 means split and 变 means change, so it names a change that is a splitting, especially nuclear fission.

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.

列衣裂

Meaning part形符xíngfú

衣衣yīclothes

Sound part声符shēngfú

列

列liè裂liè

Same sound today

裂 combines 衣 (clothes) with 列 for the sound. The picture of 列 shows bones cut by a blade and lined up, and the whole writes the idea of cutting and tearing clothes.

Open 裂 →

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 變; 变 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

攴攴pū

Sound part声符shēngfú

䜌

䜌䜌變biàn

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

The traditional form 變 uses 䜌 as a sound part and 攴 as a meaning part.

Open 变 →

Appears in