先遣队 (xiān qiǎn duì) — advance force; vanguard

Definition

noun

advance forcevanguard

Measure word · 支

先遣队。
xiān qiǎn duì Yǐ jīng chū fā le.
The advance force has already set out.
先遣队。
Tā men zuò wéi xiān qiǎn duì xiān qù tàn lù.
They, as the advance party, go ahead to scout the path.
先遣队。
Zhè zhī xiān qiǎn duì yóu shí míng jīng yīng zǔ chéng.
This vanguard is composed of ten elite members.

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.

先遣advance

偏正Modifier + head

先 means ahead, 遣 means send, 队 means team; a team sent ahead.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

先 combines 止 (foot) and 儿 (person) to show someone moving forward.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The old form showed two hands directing an army, meaning to send or dispatch; the modern 遣 adds a walking part.

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 隊; 队 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

阜阜fù

Sound part声符shēngfú

㒸

㒸㒸隊duì

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

The traditional form 隊 has 阜 as the meaning part and 㒸 as the sound part.