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办公楼 (bàn gōng lóu) — office building

Definition

noun
office building
Measure word · 座

Examples

  • 办公楼。
    Wǒ men gōng sī zài zhè zuò bàn gōng lóu lǐ.
    Our company is in this office building.
  • 办公楼。
    Gé bì nà dòng bàn gōng lóu shì qù nián jiàn de.
    That office building next door was built last year.
  • 办公楼。
    Zhè dòng bàn gōng lóu yǒu èr shí céng.
    This office building has twenty floors.

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.

办公office work
办bànhandle公gōngpublic affairs
动宾Verb + object
楼lóubuilding

办 means handle, 公 means public affairs, and 楼 means building; together they denote a building for office work.

Characters in this word

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 辦; 办 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
力力lìstrength
Sound part声符shēngfú
辡
辡biàn辦bàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 辦 combines 力 (strength) with 辡, which gives the sound; the simplified 办 is a later shorthand.

Open 办 →

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 →

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 樓; 楼 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mùtree
Sound part声符shēngfú
婁
婁lóu樓lóu
Same sound today

The traditional form 樓 pairs 木 (tree) with 婁 as its sound part; the simplified 楼 is a later shorthand.

Open 楼 →
Appears in
Buildings & StructuresWorkplace & Office

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