警觉 (jǐng jué) — vigilance; alertness | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

vigilancealertness

警觉。
Wǒ men bì xū bǎo chí jǐng jué.
We must maintain vigilance.
警觉。
Zhè cì shì jiàn tí gāo le dà jiā de jǐng jué.
This incident raised everyone's alertness.
警觉，。
Tā fēi cháng yǒu jǐng jué, lì kè fā xiàn le wèn tí.
He was very alert and immediately spotted the problem.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

警jǐngwatchful; alert

觉juéperceive; sense

警 conveys watchfulness and 觉 conveys perception; together they mean being alert and noticing what is happening.

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.

敬言警

Meaning part形符xíngfú

言言yánspoken language, speech

Sound part声符shēngfú

敬

Same sound today

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

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 覺; 觉 is its simplified writing.

𦥯見覺

Meaning part形符xíngfú

見見jiànsee

Sound part声符shēngfú

𦥯

𦥯𦥯覺jué

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

The traditional form 覺 pairs 見, a part that means see, with 𦥯, a part that gives the sound; simplified 觉 is a later abbreviation.

Appears in