共和 (gòng hé) — republic | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

republic

Examples

。
Zhōng guó shì yí gè gòng hé guó.
China is a republic.
。
Měi guó yǒu gòng hé dǎng hé mín zhǔ dǎng.
The United States has the Republican Party and the Democratic Party.
共和。
gòng hé Zhì shì yì zhǒng cháng jiàn de zhèng tǐ.
Republicanism is a common form of government.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

和héharmony

The sense of 共和 combines 共 'shared' and 和 'harmony', giving the idea of a jointly harmonious state.

Characters in this word

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

廾廾gǒngtwo hands
口口kǒuan object

共 shows 廾, two hands, holding up an object. That object was written 口 and later became the 廿-like top.

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

禾口和

Meaning part形符xíngfú

口口kǒumouth

Sound part声符shēngfú

禾

禾hé和hé

Same sound today

和 pairs 禾, which gives the sound, with 口 (mouth), the meaning part; the reference connects this shape to harmony.

Appears in

Government & Politics

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