伴郎 (bàn láng) — best man (at a wedding) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Best man at a Chinese wedding — the male friend or relative who stands beside the groom (新郎) and gives a speech at the reception.

noun

best man (at a wedding)

Measure word · 位

Examples

伴郎，。
Tā shì wǒ de bàn láng, wǒ men cóng xiǎo yì qǐ zhǎng dà.
He is my best man; we grew up together.
，伴郎。
Hūn lǐ shàng, bàn láng yào zhǔn bèi yí gè yǒu qù de yǎn jiǎng.
At the wedding, the best man needs to prepare a funny speech.
伴郎。
Xīn láng hé bàn láng yì qǐ zhàn zài tái shàng.
The groom and the best man stood together on stage.

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.

伴bànaccompanying

伴 means accompany, and 郎 means man, so 伴郎 is the man who accompanies the groom.

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.

亻半伴

Meaning part形符xíngfú

亻Written in full as人rén

Sound part声符shēngfú

半

半bàn伴bàn

Same sound today

伴 puts 亻 (person) beside 半. The person part fits the meaning of companion, and 半 gives the sound.

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

邑邑yìcounty; town

Sound part声符shēngfú

良

良liáng郎láng

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

郎 combines 良, which gives the sound, with 邑, meaning county or town.

Appears in

Romance & Marriage

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