亡魂 (wáng hún) — soul of a deceased person; ghost; specter | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

亡魂 (wánghún) is a literary word for the soul of a dead person — close to 鬼 (ghost), but emphasizes the lingering spirit of someone who has died.

noun

soul of a deceased personghostspecter

Examples

亡魂。
Tā mèng jiàn yǐ gù qīn rén de wáng hún.
He dreamed of the souls of his deceased relatives.
亡魂。
Zhè zuò gǔ miào jù shuō cháng yǒu wáng hún chū mò.
This ancient temple is said to be haunted by ghosts.
亡魂。
Rén men wèi nà xiē wáng hún jǔ xíng le chāo dù yí shì.
People held a funeral ceremony for those souls.

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.

亡wángdeceased

亡 means deceased, and 魂 means soul, so the word names a deceased person's soul.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

The shape originally marked a knife's cutting edge with a line.

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

云鬼魂

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

云

云yún魂hún(r)

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

魂 is made from 鬼, the ghost component, plus 云, which supplies the sound.

Appears in

Mythology & Folklore

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