重罚 (zhòng fá) — to severely punish

Definition

重 (zhòng) here means 'heavily / severely', modifying 罚 ('to fine or punish'). It emphasizes a harsh penalty, stronger than a routine 处罚.

verb
to severely punish

Examples

  • 重罚。
    Duì jiǔ jià xíng wéi bì xū zhòng fá.
    Drunk driving must be severely punished.
  • 重罚。
    Gōng sī zhòng fá le wéi fǎn guī dìng de rén.
    The company severely punished those who violated the rules.
  • 重罚。
    Fǎ lǜ duì zhè zhǒng xíng wéi huì zhòng fá.
    The law will severely punish this kind of behavior.

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.

重zhòngsevere
罚fápunish

The sense of severe joins with punish to mean impose a heavy penalty.

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
人人rénman
Sound part声符shēngfú
東
東dōng重zhòng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

重 developed from a picture of a man carrying a bag, with 人 for the man and 東 for the bag; a later ground element was folded into the form.

Open 重 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 罰; 罚 is its simplified writing.

  • 詈詈lìabuse verbally
  • 刀刀dāoknife

The traditional form 罰 pairs 詈 (abuse verbally) with 刀 (knife); verbal abuse and improper use of a knife represent a crime. The simplified 罚 is a later abbreviation.

Open 罚 →

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