阀 (fá) — (bound form) valve; (bound form) powerful family or clique (e.g. 军阀 warlord, 财阀 plutocrat)
Definition
阀 (fá) is a bound form — it only appears as part of compounds, never alone. The two compounds you'll see are technical (e.g. 阀 valve mechanism) and political (军阀 warlord, 财阀 plutocrat).
bound form
valvepowerful family or clique (e.g. 军阀 warlord, 财阀 plutocrat)
Examples
- ，。Zhè ge ān quán fá yǐ jīng sǔn huài le, xū yào mǎ shàng gēng huàn.This safety valve is damaged and needs to be replaced immediately.
- 阀。Mín guó shí qī de fá hùn zhàn ràng bǎi xìng shēng huó shí fēn jiān nán.The warlord conflicts during the Republican era made life extremely hard for the common people.
- 阀。Nà ge guó jiā de jīng jì bèi jǐ gè dà fá kòng zhì zhe.That country's economy is controlled by several plutocrats.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost 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 閥; 阀 is its simplified writing.
Meaning part形符xíngfú
門門mén
The traditional form 閥 combines 門, a gate, with 伐 to give the sound; the simplified 阀 is a later shorthand.
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