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奖项 (jiǎng xiàng) — award, prize

Definition

奖项 is the abstract 'award category' (e.g., the award itself, the prize as a distinction) — a more formal term than 奖, which is the everyday word for a prize.

noun
awardprize
Measure word · 项

Examples

  • 奖项。
    Tā dé dào le zhè ge jiǎng xiàng.
    He received this award.
  • 奖项。
    Zhè ge jiǎng xiàng de jiǎng jīn hěn gāo.
    The prize money for this award is very high.
  • 奖项。
    Tā lián xù sān nián huò dé zhè ge jiǎng xiàng.
    She won this award for three consecutive years.

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
项xiàngitem/category

“奖” is an award and “项” is an item or category, together forming a prize category.

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 →

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 項; 项 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yèhead
Sound part声符shēngfú
工
工gōng項xiàng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 項 combines 工 as a sound part with 頁, meaning head; the simplified 项 is a later shorthand.

Open 项 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Success & Failure

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.