司令员 (sī lìng yuán) — commander; commanding officer

Definition

Specific title for the commanding officer of a military unit, higher-ranking than a 团长 or 营长 — used to address or refer to the commander in charge.

noun
commandercommanding officer
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 司令员。
    sī lìng yuán Zhèng zài zhǐ huī bù duì zuò zhàn.
    The commander is directing the troops in battle.
  • 司令员。
    Zhè wèi sī lìng yuán yǒu èr shí nián de jūn shì jīng yàn.
    This commanding officer has twenty years of military experience.
  • 司令员。
    Quán tǐ shì bīng xiàng sī lìng yuán jìng lǐ.
    All soldiers saluted the commander.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

司令command
司sīmanage令lìngorder
动宾Verb + object
员yuánperson

司令 gives command, and 员 points to a person.

Characters in this word

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

The evidence is inconclusive: one suggestion sees 司 as a mouth giving orders beside a mark of authority, another reads that mark as a hand, and another sees it as a reversed older form.

Open 司 →

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

  • 亼亼jí
  • 卩卩jié

In 令, the upper 亼 is an open mouth and the lower 卩 is a kneeling person, together showing someone giving orders.

Open 令 →

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 員; 员 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
鼎鼎dǐngding
Sound part声符shēngfú
〇
〇líng員yuán
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 員, 〇 supplies the sound and 鼎 supplies the meaning; the simplified 员 is a shortened form.

Open 员 →

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