震级 (zhèn jí) — magnitude (of an earthquake)

Definition

noun
magnitude (of an earthquake)

Examples

  • 震级7.8。
    Zhè cì dì zhèn de zhèn jí dá dào le 7. 8 jí.
    The magnitude of this earthquake reached 7.8.
  • 震级。
    Zhuān jiā yòng yí qì cè liáng dì zhèn de zhèn jí.
    Experts use instruments to measure the magnitude of earthquakes.
  • 震级。
    Lì shǐ shàng zuì dà zhèn jí de dì zhèn fā shēng zài zhì lì.
    The earthquake with the largest magnitude in history occurred in Chile.

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.

震zhènearthquake
级jígrade

震 refers to an earthquake and 级 to a grade, so the word gives the grade of an earthquake's strength.

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
雨雨yǔ
Sound part声符shēngfú
辰
辰chén震zhèn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

震 combines 雨 (rain) with 辰 (chén), which gives the sound; 雨 is the part associated with the character’s meaning.

Open 震 →

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 級; 级 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糹Written in full as糸mìthread
Sound part声符shēngfú
及
及jí級jí
Same sound today

The traditional form 級 has 糹 (thread) and 及 as a sound part; its original sense was a sequence related to silk. The simplified 级 is a later shorthand.

Open 级 →

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