律政司 (Lǜ zhèng sī) — Department of Justice (Hong Kong)

Definition

律政司 is the proper name of Hong Kong's Department of Justice, the government body handling criminal prosecutions and legal policy. Unlike a mainland equivalent (e.g. 检察院), this term applies only to Hong Kong.

noun
Department of Justice (Hong Kong)

Examples

  • 律政司。
    Xiāng gǎng Lǜ zhèng sī fù zé xíng shì jiǎn kòng gōng zuò.
    The Hong Kong Department of Justice is responsible for criminal prosecution.
  • 律政司。
    Tā zài Lǜ zhèng sī gōng zuò le èr shí nián.
    He has worked at the Department of Justice for twenty years.
  • 律政司。
    Lǜ zhèng sī Sī zhǎng jīn tiān xià wǔ zhào kāi le jì zhě huì.
    The Secretary for Justice held a press conference this afternoon.

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.

律政legal administration
律lǜlaw政zhèngadministration
偏正Modifier + head
司sīdepartment

律 and 政 refer to law and administration, and 司 names an office, so the whole is a legal administration office.

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
彳彳chì
Sound part声符shēngfú
聿
聿yù律lǜ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

律 puts 彳 beside 聿: 彳 is the part tied to the meaning, and 聿 is the part tied to the sound.

Open 律 →

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
攴攴pūaction
Sound part声符shēngfú
正
正zhèng政zhèng
Same sound today

政 combines 正, which gives the sound, with 攴, an action-related part.

Open 政 →

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

The evidence is inconclusive: one suggestion sees 司 as a mouth giving orders beside a mark of authority, another reads that mark as a hand, and another sees it as a reversed older form.

Open 司 →

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