军功章 (jūn gōng zhāng) — medal for military merit

Definition

noun
medal for military merit
Measure word · 枚

Examples

  • 军功章。
    Tā zài zhàn chǎng shàng huò dé le yì méi jūn gōng zhāng.
    He received a medal for military merit on the battlefield.
  • 军功章。
    jūn gōng zhāng Shì jūn rén róng yù de xiàng zhēng.
    The medal for military merit is a symbol of honor for soldiers.
  • 军功章。
    Zhè méi jūn gōng zhāng yǐ jīng bǎo cún le jǐ shí nián.
    This medal for military merit has been preserved for decades.

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.

军功military merit
军jūnmilitary功gōngmerit
偏正Modifier + head
章zhāngbadge

军功 means military merit, and 章 is a badge, so the word names a medal for military merit.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 軍; 军 is its simplified writing.

  • 車車jūcart; chariot
  • 勹勹bāoto surround

In the traditional form 軍, 車 shows the chariot sense, while the part now written 勹 is a sound part, not the 'surround' 勹. Simplified 军 is a later shorthand.

Open 军 →

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
力力lìstrength
Sound part声符shēngfú
工
工gōng功gōng
Same sound today

功 puts 力 (strength) beside 工, which gives the sound gōng and means labour or work.

Open 功 →

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

章 shows a chisel piercing a piece of jade in the middle. It originally meant treating jade.

Open 章 →

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