什叶派 (Shí yè pài) — Shiites; Shia Islam (the Shia branch of Islam)

Definition

A proper noun naming one of the two main branches of Islam (Shia, the other being 逊尼派 Sunni). Use it as a fixed label, like 'the Shia branch' or 'Shia Muslims'.

noun
ShiitesShia Islam (the Shia branch of Islam)

Examples

  • 什叶派。
    Shí yè pài Shì yī sī lán jiào de yí gè zhǔ yào pài bié.
    Shia is a major sect of Islam.
  • 什叶派。
    Yī lǎng shì shì jiè shàng zuì dà de Shí yè pài guó jiā.
    Iran is the largest Shia country in the world.
  • 什叶派。
    Xǔ duō Shí yè pài xìn tú shēng huó zài yī lā kè.
    Many Shia believers live in Iraq.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

什叶
什shén叶yè
音译Transliteration
派pàisect

什叶派 uses 派, 'sect', named by 什叶, the foreign term for Shia.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 什 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
口口kǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
十
十shí叶yè
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The form 叶 pairs 口 (mouth) with 十 (ten) as an old form meaning cooperate; it later came to mean leaf because it sounded similar.

Open 叶 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
水水shuǐwater; river
Sound part声符shēngfú
𠂢
𠂢𠂢派pài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

派 is built from 水 (water/river) and 𠂢. 𠂢 gives the sound, and 水 was added later to tell the character apart from the older form.

Open 派 →

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