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工会 (gōng huì) — labor union, trade union

Definition

noun
labor uniontrade union
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 工会。
    Tā men tōng guò gōng huì zhēng qǔ dào le gèng hǎo de gōng zī dài yù.
    They secured better wages and benefits through the labor union.
  • 工会。
    gōng huì Zǔ zhī le zhōu mò de kàng yì huó dòng.
    The union organized weekend protest activities.
  • 工会。
    Hěn duō gōng rén yīn wèi jiā rù gōng huì ér huò dé le fǎ lǜ bāng zhù.
    Many workers got legal aid because they joined the union.

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.

工gōnglabor
会huìassociation

工 refers to labor or workers, and 会 is an association, together naming a workers union.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 工 is a picture of a bladed tool used to plow ground or mark a border; some read it as a carpenter's square.

Open 工 →

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 會; 会 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
合合héto meet
Sound part声符shēngfú
𡆧
𡆧𡆧會huì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

Traditional 會 pairs 合 (to meet) with 𡆧, an original form for ironware, to give the sound. The simplified 会 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original parts.

Open 会 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Groups & Organizations

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