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义气 (yì qì) — personal loyalty; code of brotherhood; sense of moral righteousness among companions

Definition

义气 is the unwritten code of loyalty and mutual help among close friends or sworn brothers — something you '讲' (value/keep), not just have. It is a culturally loaded ideal of brotherhood, not a general moral concept.

noun
personal loyaltycode of brotherhoodsense of moral righteousness among companions

Examples

  • 。
    Wǒ de péng you hěn jiǎng yì qì.
    My friend really values personal loyalty.
  • 义气，。
    Wèi le yì qì, tā zhǔ dòng chéng dān le zé rèn.
    For the sake of brotherly loyalty, he voluntarily took on the responsibility.
  • ，义气。
    Xiōng dì zhī jiān, yì qì zuì zhòng yào.
    Among brothers, personal loyalty is the most important thing.

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.

义yìrighteousness
气qìspirit

义 (righteousness) and 气 (spirit) combine into a loyal, brotherhood spirit.

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 義; 义 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
羊羊yáng
Sound part声符shēngfú
我
我wǒ義yì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 義 has 我 giving the sound and 羊 meaning good or auspicious; the simplified 义 is a later abbreviation.

Open 义 →

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 氣; 气 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
米米mǐrice
Sound part声符shēngfú
气
气qì氣qì
Same sound today

The traditional form 氣 pairs 米 (rice) with 气, which supplies the sound; the simplified 气 is a later abbreviation.

Open 气 →
Appears in
Friends & SocialPersonality & Traits

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