后勤部 (hòu qín bù) — logistics department; rear-service department

Definition

noun
logistics departmentrear-service department
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 后勤部。
    hòu qín bù Fù zé zhěng gè gōng sī de wù zī gōng yìng.
    The logistics department is responsible for the entire company's material supply.
  • 后勤部，。
    Tā zài hòu qín bù gōng zuò le shí nián, jīng yàn fēi cháng fēng fù.
    He has worked in the logistics department for ten years and has very rich experience.
  • 后勤部。
    Jūn duì de hòu qín bù bì xū bǎo zhàng qián xiàn wù zī jí shí dào wèi.
    The military's logistics department must ensure that frontline supplies arrive on time.

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.

后勤rear service
后hòurear勤qínservice
偏正Modifier + head
部bùdepartment

后 means rear, 勤 means service, and 部 means department, so the result is a rear-service department.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 後; 后 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 後 showed 夊 (foot) bound by 幺 (thread), a foot caught by a rope and lagging behind; the simplified 后 is a later abbreviation, and 后 also has a different meaning.

Open 后 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 勤 →

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 →

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