存亡 (cún wáng) — live or die; survive or perish | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

存亡 is a formal noun pairing two opposites — 'survival or extinction' — used almost only as a set phrase in serious writing (e.g. 生死存亡, 关系到存亡). It reads as a single concept, not two separate verbs.

verb

live or diesurvive or perish

Examples

存亡。
Gōng sī de cún wáng qǔ jué yú shì chǎng de xū qiú.
The company's survival depends on market demand.
存亡。
Zhè ge xiàng mù de cún wáng xiàn zài hái bú què dìng.
The survival of this project is still uncertain.
存亡。
Zhè jiàn shì guān xì dào zhěng gè gōng sī de cún wáng.
This matter concerns the survival of the entire company.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

存cúnsurvive

The parts 存 and 亡 mean survive and perish, paired opposites that together express life or death.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

才

才cái存cún

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

存 pairs 子 with 才, which was used for the sound.

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

The shape originally marked a knife's cutting edge with a line.

Appears in

Abstract Concepts Safety & Danger

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