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司法部长 (sī fǎ bù cháng) — judicial minister (head of a justice department)

Definition

noun
judicial minister (head of a justice department)
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 司法部长。
    Zhè wèi xīn shàng rèn de sī fǎ bù cháng jīng yàn fēng fù.
    This newly appointed judicial minister is very experienced.
  • 司法部长。
    sī fǎ bù cháng Zài jì zhě huì shàng xuān bù le xīn de fǎ lǜ zhèng cè.
    The judicial minister announced new legal policies at the press conference.
  • 司法部长。
    Quán guó rén mín dài biǎo dà huì rèn mìng le xià yí rèn sī fǎ bù cháng.
    The National People's Congress appointed the next judicial minister.

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.

司法administer law
司sīadminister法fǎlaw
动宾Verb + object
部长department chief
部bùdepartment长chángchief
偏正Modifier + head

司法 is administering law, and 部长 is a department chief; the title names a chief for judicial affairs.

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 →

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
廌廌zhìa type of antelope or caprid
Sound part声符shēngfú
盍
盍hé法fǎ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

法's older form combined 氵 (water) and 廌 (a type of antelope or caprid), with 盍 as a sound part; later 廌 was dropped.

Open 法 →

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
邑邑yì
Sound part声符shēngfú
咅
咅pǒu部bù
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

部 pairs 咅, which gives the sound, with 邑. It originally named a place in today's Gansu.

Open 部 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 長; 长 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 長 pictures an old man with long hair. The simplified 长 is a later shorthand, so its strokes do not show that original picture.

Open 长 →
Appears in
Government & PoliticsLaw & Justice

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