严刑 (yán xíng) — cruel punishment; torture

Definition

noun

cruel punishmenttorture

严刑。
Gǔ dài yǒu xiē cháo dài shǐ yòng yán xíng lái wéi chí tǒng zhì.
Some ancient dynasties used cruel punishment to maintain rule.
严刑。
Zhè zhǒng yán xíng yǐn qǐ le rén mín de qiáng liè bù mǎn.
This kind of severe punishment caused strong discontent among the people.
严刑。
Xiàn dài fǎ lǜ zǎo yǐ fèi chú le zhè lèi yán xíng.
Modern law has long abolished this type of torture.

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.

刑xíngpunishment

严 means severe and 刑 means punishment, giving severe punishment.

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 嚴; 严 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

喦喦yántalkative

Sound part声符shēngfú

敢

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 嚴 combines 喦 (talkative) and 敢 (daring); the simplified 严 is a later shorthand.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

井

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

刑 puts 刀 (knife) beside 井. The knife part shows the punishment idea, and 井 gives the sound.

Appears in