馆长 (guǎn cháng) — director (of a library, museum, gallery, or sim…

Definition

Head of a public institution such as a library, museum, or gallery — counted with the honorific measure word 位 rather than 个.

noun

director (of a library, museum, gallery, or similar institution)

Measure word · 位

馆长。
Xīn lái de guǎn cháng zhì dìng le xǔ duō gǎi gé cuò shī.
The new director has implemented many reform measures.
馆长。
Zhè wèi guǎn cháng duì gǔ jí bǎo hù yǒu fēng fù jīng yàn.
This director has extensive experience in ancient book preservation.
馆长。
guǎn cháng Qīn zì jiē dài le lái fǎng de zhuān jiā tuán.
The director personally received the visiting group of experts.

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.

馆guǎninstitution

馆 is an institution such as a museum and 长 is its head, so the word names the director of that institution.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 館; 馆 is its simplified writing.

飠官館

Meaning part形符xíngfú

飠Written in full as食shí

Sound part声符shēngfú

官

Same sound today

The traditional form 館 is made of 食, written as 飠 on the left, and 官 on the right; 官 provides the sound. The simplified 馆 is a later shorthand.

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.

Appears in