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投票权 (tóu piào quán) — right to vote, suffrage

Definition

noun
right to votesuffrage

Examples

  • 投票权。
    Měi gè gōng mín dōu yōng yǒu tóu piào quán.
    Every citizen has the right to vote.
  • 投票权。
    Tā men wèi zhēng qǔ tóu piào quán fèn dòu le hěn duō nián.
    They fought for many years to win the right to vote.
  • 投票权。
    Zhè cì xuǎn jǔ kuò dà le jū mín de tóu piào quán.
    This election expanded the voting rights of residents.

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.

投票vote
投tóucast票piàoballot
动宾Verb + object
权quánright

投 (cast) + 票 (ballot) + 权 (right) means the right to cast ballots.

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
扌Written in full as手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
殳
殳shū投tóu
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left part 扌 shows a hand, and the right part 殳 gives the sound of the character.

Open 投 →

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

  • 火火huǒfire
  • 𢍱𢍱𢍱to rise high

票 combines 火 (fire) and 𢍱 (to rise high), originally representing sparks rising up.

Open 票 →

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 權; 权 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mùtree
Sound part声符shēngfú
雚
雚guàn權quán
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 權 shows 木, a tree, with 雚 giving the sound; it named a kind of tree and was used for a standard weight. The simplified 权 is a later shorthand, not the historical shape.

Open 权 →
Appears in
Rights & Citizenship

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