公开信 (gōng kāi xìn) — open letter

Definition

noun
open letter
Measure word · 封

Examples

  • 公开信，。
    Tā xiě le yì fēng gōng kāi xìn, pī píng zhèng fǔ de zhèng cè.
    He wrote an open letter criticizing the government's policy.
  • 公开信。
    Zhè fēng gōng kāi xìn zài wǎng luò shàng bèi guǎng fàn zhuǎn fā.
    This open letter was widely shared on the internet.
  • 公开信。
    Xǔ duō shì mín dú le nà fēng gōng kāi xìn hòu biǎo shì zhī chí.
    Many citizens expressed support after reading that open letter.

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.

公开open
公gōngpublic开kāiopen
联合Side by side
信xìnletter

公开 means open, and 信 is a letter, so 公开信 is an open letter.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

One theory sees 公 as a picture of a wide-mouthed, round-bottomed jar.

Open 公 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 開; 开 is its simplified writing.

  • 門門méndoor
  • 一一yīlatch and/or wooden pole that shuts a door
  • 廾廾gǒnga pair of hands

The traditional form 開 shows 廾, a pair of hands, and 一, a latch or pole, inside 門, a door: hands opening a latched door. The simplified 开 is a shorthand form, so its parts are not the original pieces.

Open 开 →

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
言言yánwords
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén信xìn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

信 pairs 人 as the sound part with 言 (words) as the meaning part.

Open 信 →

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