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惯例 (guàn lì) — convention, usual practice

Definition

惯例 is an established 'convention / usual practice' — more formal and institutional than 习惯 (personal habit) and more narrow than 传统 (broad tradition).

noun
conventionusual practice

Examples

  • 惯例，。
    Àn zhào guàn lì, guó jì huì yì tōng cháng yòng yīng yǔ fā yán.
    According to convention, international meetings are usually conducted in English.
  • 惯例。
    Zhè zhǒng guàn lì yǐ jīng cún zài hěn duō nián le.
    This kind of convention has existed for many years.
  • 惯例。
    Dǎ pò guàn lì xū yào hěn dà de yǒng qì.
    Breaking a convention takes a lot of courage.

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.

惯guànaccustomed
例lìexample

惯 (accustomed) and 例 (example) together mean a usual practice.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 慣; 惯 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
忄Written in full as心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
貫
貫guàn慣guàn
Same sound today

The traditional form 慣 shows 忄 (heart) beside 貫, which gives the sound; the simplified 惯 is a shorthand. Habit is what one does by heart.

Open 惯 →

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
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
列
列liè例lì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

例 is built from 亻, which relates to people, and 列, which gives the sound.

Open 例 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Abstract Concepts

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