奴隶制 (nú lì zhì) — slavery (the system of owning people as propert…

Definition

noun

slavery (the system of owning people as property)

奴隶制。
Gǔ dài yǒu xǔ duō guó jiā shí xíng nú lì zhì.
Many ancient countries practiced slavery.
奴隶制，。
nú lì zhì Bèi fèi chú hòu, shè huì fā shēng le jù dà biàn huà.
After slavery was abolished, society underwent tremendous change.
奴隶制。
Zhè běn shū xiáng xì miáo shù le nú lì zhì de lì shǐ.
This book describes the history of slavery in detail.

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.

奴隶slave

奴núslave隶lìservant

联合Coordinate

奴隶 names those held as property, and 制 the system, so the word means slavery.

Characters in this word

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

女又奴

奴 shows 又 (a hand) and 女 (a woman): a hand capturing and ordering a woman around.

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 隸; 隶 is its simplified writing.

柰隶隸

Meaning part形符xíngfú

隶隶lìarrest

Sound part声符shēngfú

柰

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 隸 pairs 柰 for sound with 隶 for arrest; the simplified 隶 is a shorthand.

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

The form 制 pairs 朱 (tree) with 刀 (knife), showing the act of cutting a tree.

Appears in