警官 (jǐng guān) — police officer

Definition

noun
police officer
Measure word · 位
Easily confused

Examples

  • 警官。
    Nà wèi jǐng guān zhèng zài zhǐ huī jiāo tōng.
    That police officer is directing traffic.
  • 警官。
    Tā shì yì míng jīng yàn fēng fù de jǐng guān.
    He is an experienced police officer.
  • 警官。
    jǐng guān Tí xǐng dà jiā zhù yì ān quán.
    The police officer reminded everyone to pay attention to safety.

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.

警jǐngpolice
官guānofficial

“警” specifies police and “官” means official, giving police officer.

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
言言yánspoken language, speech
Sound part声符shēngfú
敬
敬jìng警
Same sound today

警 places 言 (speech) below 敬; 敬 gives the sound.

Open 警 →

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

  • 宀宀mián
  • 𠂤𠂤𠂤

官 pairs 宀, a roof, with 𠂤, rooms beneath it, to depict an official building.

Open 官 →
Appears in
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