政治犯 (zhèng zhì fàn) — political prisoner | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

political prisoner

Measure word · 个

Examples

政治犯。
Hěn duō zhèng zhì fàn bèi shì fàng le.
Many political prisoners have been released.
政治犯。
Tā bèi dàng chéng zhèng zhì fàn duì dài.
He was treated as a political prisoner.
政治犯。
Zhè ge zǔ zhī wèi zhèng zhì fàn de quán lì ér zhàn.
This organization fights for the rights of political prisoners.

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.

政治politics

政zhènggovernment/politics治zhìgovern

联合Coordinate

犯fànoffender

“政治” (politics) and “犯” (offender) combine to mean a person guilty of a political offense.

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

攴攴pūaction

Sound part声符shēngfú

正

正zhèng政zhèng

Same sound today

政 combines 正, which gives the sound, with 攴, an action-related part.

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

水水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

台

台tái治zhì

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

治 has 水 (water) and 台; 台 gives the sound, and the character named a river.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

𢎘

𢎘𢎘犯fàn

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

犯 combines 犬 and 𢎘: 犬 gives the meaning, and 𢎘 gives the sound.

Appears in

Crime & Police Government & Politics

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