降伏 (xiáng fú) — to vanquish; to tame; to subdue

Definition

降伏 (jiàngfú) means to vanquish or subdue, often a stubborn force, fear, or wild creature. The first syllable is read jiàng, not xiáng — note the contrast with 降服 which is the more common, neutral ‘to surrender/subdue’ reading.

verb
to vanquishto tameto subdue
Easily confused

Examples

  • 降伏。
    Yīng xióng yòng zhì huì xiáng fú le è lóng.
    The hero vanquished the evil dragon with wisdom.
  • 降伏，。
    Tā xiáng fú le nèi xīn de kǒng jù, zhōng yú dēng shàng le dǐng fēng.
    He subdued his inner fear and finally reached the summit.
  • 降伏。
    Xùn mǎ shī huā le yí gè yuè xiáng fú le zhè pǐ yě mǎ.
    The horse trainer spent a month taming this wild horse.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

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

降jiàngsubdue
伏fúsubmit

降 (subdue) and 伏 (submit) combine to mean tame or vanquish.

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
阝Written in full as阜fùhill, wall
Sound part声符shēngfú
夅
夅jiàng降xiáng
Same sound today

降 pairs 阝 (a hill or wall, written in full as 阜) with 夅, a sound part meaning 'to descend'; together they picture descending a hill.

Open 降 →

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

伏 combines 人 (person) and 犬 (dog), as a dog beside a person or a person taking a dog's low posture, to show lying prostrate.

Open 伏 →

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