出生证 (chū shēng zhèng) — birth certificate

Definition

noun

birth certificate

Measure word · 张

出生证。
Tā bàn chū shēng zhèng yòng le sān tiān shí jiān.
It took him three days to get a birth certificate.
出生证。
chū shēng zhèng Shàng xiě zhe hái zi de chū shēng rì qī hé dì diǎn.
The birth certificate shows the child's date and place of birth.
出生证。
Tā bǎ zì jǐ de chū shēng zhèng fù yìn le yí fèn liú dǐ.
She made a copy of her birth certificate to keep on file.

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.

出生birth

动宾Verb + object

证zhèngcertificate

A 证 records 出生, the coming into the world.

Characters in this word

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

出 combines 止 (foot) and 凵 (cave) to show a foot stepping out of a cave.

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

生 shows 屮 (a bud) above 一 (the ground), drawing a sprout coming up from the earth.

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 證; 证 is its simplified writing.

言登證

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

登

登dēng證zhèng

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 證 pairs 言, a words/speech part, with 登 as a sound clue; the simplified 证 is a later shorthand.

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