非国大 (fēi guó dà) — African National Congress, ANC

Definition

noun

African National CongressANC

非国大。
fēi guó dà Shì nán fēi zuì zhòng yào de zhèng dǎng zhī yī.
The ANC is one of the most important political parties in South Africa.
。
Màn dé lā céng shì fēi guó dà de lǐng dǎo rén.
Mandela was once the leader of the ANC.
非国大1994。
fēi guó dà Zài 1994 nián dà xuǎn zhōng huò shèng.
The ANC won the 1994 general election.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 非 is drawn from two wings facing opposite directions. It later came to be used for going against or not being.

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 國; 国 is its simplified writing.

囗或國

Meaning part形符xíngfú

囗囗wéiclosure

Sound part声符shēngfú

或

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 國 uses 囗 to show closure and 或 to give the sound.

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.