义 (yì) — justice; righteousness; moral duty (in 义务, 义气); meaning; significance (in 含义, 定义); (bound form) adopted; artificial; volunteer (in 义子, 义肢, 义工)
Definition
义 is a bound morpheme, never used alone: it means 'righteousness / moral duty' (in 义务, 义气) or 'meaning' (in 含义, 定义), and also 'adopted / voluntary' (in 义子, 义工, 义肢).
bound form
justicerighteousnessmoral duty (in 义务, 义气)meaningsignificance (in 含义, 定义)adoptedartificialvolunteer (in 义子, 义肢, 义工)
Examples
- ，。Tā tè bié jiǎng yì qi, péng you yǒu nán yí dìng bāng máng.He really values loyalty; if a friend is in trouble he will definitely help.
- 。Zhè liǎng gè cí de hán yì wán quán yí yàng.These two words have exactly the same meaning.
- ，。Tā tuì xiū hòu yì zhí zuò yì gōng, bāng zhù shè qū lǐ de lǎo rén.After retiring, he has been doing volunteer work to help the elderly in the community.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost 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 義; 义 is its simplified writing.
The traditional form 義 has 我 giving the sound and 羊 meaning good or auspicious; the simplified 义 is a later abbreviation.
Appears in
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