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奖章 (jiǎng zhāng) — medal (as an award or decoration)

Definition

noun
medal (as an award or decoration)
Measure word · 枚

Examples

  • 奖章。
    Tā zài zhàn zhēng zhōng huò dé le yīng yǒng jiǎng zhāng.
    He received a bravery medal in the war.
  • 奖章。
    Guó jiā xiàng biǎo xiàn tū chū de rén bān fā jiǎng zhāng.
    The state awards medals to people with outstanding performance.
  • 奖章。
    Tā xiōng qián dài zhe yì méi shǎn liàng de jiǎng zhāng.
    She is wearing a shiny medal on her chest.

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.

奖jiǎngaward
章zhāngbadge

A badge or emblem given as an award, hence a medal.

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 獎; 奖 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
犬犬quǎndog
Sound part声符shēngfú
將
將jiāng獎jiǎng
Same sound today

The traditional form 獎 pairs 將 as a sound part with 犬, a dog; the simplified 奖 is a later shorthand. The evidence says the dog part's meaning is unclear, perhaps referring to guiding a dog by voice.

Open 奖 →

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

章 shows a chisel piercing a piece of jade in the middle. It originally meant treating jade.

Open 章 →
Appears in
Success & Failure

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