勇 (yǒng) — brave, courageous (bound form, used in compounds like 勇敢, 勇气); (historical/military) soldier, conscript (bound form, used in compounds like 兵勇)
Definition
勇 (yǒng) is a bound morpheme meaning 'brave' or 'courage' — almost never used alone. It only appears inside compounds such as 勇敢, 勇气, and 勇士.
bound form
bravecourageous (bound form, used in compounds like 勇敢, 勇气)(historical/military) soldierconscript (bound form, used in compounds like 兵勇)
Easily confused
- 永yǒngsound-alikeforever, perpetually (formal/literary; used before a monosyllabic verb)
- 涌yǒngsound-aliketo surge, to gush, to well up
- 泳yǒngsound-alikeswim (bound form)
- 咏yǒngsound-alike(bound form) to chant, to recite poetically
- 蛹yǒngsound-alikepupa
- 俑yǒngsound-aliketomb figurine (bound form, used in compounds)
Examples
- ，。Tā hěn yǒng gǎn, cóng bú hài pà kùn nan.He is very brave and never afraid of difficulties.
- ，。Miàn duì tiǎo zhàn, nǐ xū yào gèng duō de yǒng qì.Facing challenges, you need more courage.
- 。Zhè wèi yǒng shì zài zhàn chǎng shàng lì le dà gōng.This warrior performed great deeds on the battlefield.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.
Sound part声符shēngfú
甬
甬yǒng勇yǒng
Same sound today
勇 pairs 甬, which gives the sound, with 力, a strength part, to mean brave and strong.
Appears in
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