投诚 (tóu chéng) — to defect (to the other side); to surrender (to…

Definition

To surrender and switch sides, typically used of enemy soldiers or forces giving up and joining the other side.

verb

to defect (to the other side)to surrender (to the enemy)

投诚。
Tā zuì zhōng xuǎn zé le xiàng duì fāng tóu chéng.
He finally chose to defect to the other side.
投诚。
Nà xiē shì bīng dōu tóu chéng le.
Those soldiers all surrendered.
，。
Tā céng jīng tóu guò yí cì chéng, dàn hòu lái yòu bèi zhuā le.
He once defected, but later was caught again.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

投 (present) and 诚 (sincerity) combine: offering sincerity means switching sides.

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.

扌殳投

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.

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 誠; 诚 is its simplified writing.

言成誠

Meaning part形符xíngfú

言言yánspeech

Sound part声符shēngfú

成

Same sound today

In 誠, 言 is the speech part and 成 gives the sound; this is about the traditional form 誠, not the simplified 诚.

Appears in