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全国 (quán guó) — the whole country; nationwide

Definition

noun
the whole countrynationwide

Examples

  • 全国。
    quán guó Gè dì de dài biǎo dōu lái cān jiā huì yì le.
    Representatives from all over the country came to attend the meeting.
  • 全国。
    Zhè shì quán guó zuì dà de tú shū guǎn.
    This is the largest library in the country.
  • 全国。
    quán guó Rén mín de nǔ lì ràng guó jiā biàn de gèng qiáng le.
    The efforts of the whole nation have made the country stronger.

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.

全quánwhole
国guócountry

全 means whole and 国 means country, together naming the whole country.

Characters in this word

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

The shape puts 入 together with 玉 to show a whole piece of jade, so it means complete or whole.

Open 全 →

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 國; 国 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
囗囗wéiclosure
Sound part声符shēngfú
或
或huò國guó
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 國 uses 囗 to show closure and 或 to give the sound.

Open 国 →
Appears in
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