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恤 (xù) — (bound form) pity, sympathize, care for, give relief

Definition

Bound morpheme meaning 'to care for / give relief to', almost always paired with 抚 (as 抚恤) or 体 (as 体恤) in set compounds like 抚恤金 or 体恤下属. Never stands alone as a verb.

bound form
pitysympathizecare forgive relief

Examples

  • 。
    Guó jiā měi nián fā fàng dà liàng de fǔ xù jīn.
    The state distributes a large amount of compensation funds each year.
  • 。
    Zhè wèi lǐng dǎo hěn tǐ xù xià shǔ de kùn nan.
    This leader shows great empathy for subordinates' difficulties.
  • ，。
    Zhàn zhēng jié shù hòu, zhèng fǔ kāi shǐ fǔ xù sǐ nàn zhě de qīn shǔ.
    After the war ended, the government began to comfort the relatives of the victims.

Origin

Sound + meaning
六书liùshū
形声xíngshēng

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
忄Written in full as心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
血
血xuè恤xù
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

恤 has 忄, the heart, on the left, and 血 on the right, which gives the sound.

Appears in
Emotions & Feelings5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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