中校 (zhōng xiào) — lieutenant colonel (military rank in army, air…

Definition

noun

lieutenant colonel (military rank in army, air force, marines)commander (military rank in navy)

Measure word · 位

中校。
Wǒ de shū shu shì yì míng zhōng xiào.
My uncle is a lieutenant colonel.
中校。
Zhè wèi zhōng xiào zài hǎi jūn fú yì le èr shí nián.
This commander served in the navy for twenty years.
中校。
Tā jīn nián shēng dào le zhōng xiào.
He was promoted to lieutenant colonel this year.

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.

校xiàoofficer rank

中 contributes middle and 校 officer rank, together giving the middle field grade.

Characters in this word

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

The original picture showed a flagpole with a drum in the middle, set up in the center of a field.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

木交校

Meaning part形符xíngfú

木木mùtree

Sound part声符shēngfú

交

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

校 is built from 木 (tree) on the left and 交 on the right, which supplies the sound.

Appears in