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主权 (zhǔ quán) — sovereignty

Definition

Sovereignty is a country's supreme right to govern itself independently — narrower than 权力, which is any general power or authority held by a person or government.

noun
sovereignty

Examples

  • ，主权。
    Tái wān shì zhōng guó bù kě fēn gē de yí bù fen, qí zhǔ quán bù róng qīn fàn.
    Taiwan is an inseparable part of China, and its sovereignty is inviolable.
  • 主权，。
    Zhè ge guó jiā wèi le wéi hù zhǔ quán, bù xī yǔ lín guó fā shēng chōng tū.
    This country went so far as to have conflicts with its neighbors to safeguard sovereignty.
  • ，主权。
    Zài guó jì fǎ shàng, zhǔ quán yì wèi zhe yí gè guó jiā yōng yǒu zì zhǔ jué dìng nèi bù shì wù de quán lì.
    In international law, sovereignty means a country has the right to independently decide its internal affairs.

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.

主zhǔsovereign
权quánpower

主 means sovereign and 权 means power, so 主权 names sovereignty.

Characters in this word

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

The old forms that became 主 showed a lamp or torch with a flame at the top; other forms showed wood on fire or a spirit tablet.

Open 主 →

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 權; 权 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mùtree
Sound part声符shēngfú
雚
雚guàn權quán
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 權 shows 木, a tree, with 雚 giving the sound; it named a kind of tree and was used for a standard weight. The simplified 权 is a later shorthand, not the historical shape.

Open 权 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Government & Politics

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