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战场 (zhàn chǎng) — battlefield

Definition

战场 is the physical place where fighting happens ('battlefield'), unlike 战争 (the war itself) or 战斗 (a battle/fight as an event). Figuratively used for competitive arenas (e.g. commercial 战场).

noun
battlefield
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 战场。
    Shì bīng men zài zhè ge zhàn chǎng shàng yǒng gǎn zuò zhàn.
    The soldiers fought bravely on this battlefield.
  • 战场。
    Xiàn dài shāng yè zhàn chǎng jìng zhēng fēi cháng jī liè.
    The modern business battlefield is extremely competitive.
  • ，战场。
    Zhàn zhēng jié shù hòu, zhè piàn zhàn chǎng biàn chéng le nóng tián.
    After the war ended, this battlefield turned into farmland.

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.

战zhànfighting
场chǎngplace

The place 场 is given the idea of 战, forming the ground where fighting happens.

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
戈戈gē
Sound part声符shēngfú
占
占zhàn战zhàn
Same sound today

战 pairs 占, which gives its sound, with 戈, a weapon.

Open 战 →

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 場; 场 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
土土tǔearth
Sound part声符shēngfú
昜
昜yáng場chǎng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 場 pairs 土 (earth) with 昜 as a sound part; the simplified 场 is a later abbreviation, so its parts do not have that historical role.

Open 场 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Military & Defense5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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