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长线 (cháng xiàn) — long line (physical cable or wire); long-term investment or strategy; (economics) oversupplied product or state of oversupply

Definition

长线 has two distinct uses: a physical long line/cable (条), and (in finance) long-term investment or an oversupplied market. The financial sense is the opposite of 短线 (short-term/speculative).

noun
long line (physical cable or wire)long-term investment or strategy(economics) oversupplied product or state of oversupply
Measure word · 条

Examples

  • 长线。
    Diàn huà gōng sī zhèng zài pū shè xīn de hǎi dǐ cháng xiàn.
    The telephone company is laying a new undersea cable.
  • 长线，。
    Tā gèng qīng xiàng yú zuò cháng xiàn tóu zī, ér bú shì duǎn xiàn tóu jī.
    He prefers long-term investing over short-term speculation.
  • 长线。
    Zhè ge háng yè yǐ jīng cóng cháng xiàn zhuǎn wéi gōng xū píng héng.
    This industry has shifted from oversupply to a balance of supply and demand.

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.

长chánglong
线xiànline

A 长 线 of supply stretches beyond demand, leaving goods oversupplied.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 長; 长 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 長 pictures an old man with long hair. The simplified 长 is a later shorthand, so its strokes do not show that original picture.

Open 长 →

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 線; 线 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糹Written in full as糸mì
Sound part声符shēngfú
泉
泉quán線xiàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 線 uses 糹 (silk/thread) to show the meaning and 泉 to suggest the sound; the simplified 线 is a later shorthand.

Open 线 →
Appears in
Finance & Banking

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