杀人案 (shā rén àn) — murder case | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

murder case

Measure word · 起

Examples

杀人案。
Jǐng fāng zhèng zài diào chá zhè qǐ shā rén àn.
The police are investigating this murder case.
杀人案。
Zhè ge shā rén àn yǐn qǐ le shè huì de guǎng fàn guān zhù.
This murder case has attracted widespread societal attention.
杀人案。
Tā yīn wèi cān yù yì qǐ shā rén àn bèi pàn le wú qī tú xíng.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment for participating in a murder case.

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.

杀人kill a person

杀shākill人rénperson

动宾Verb + object

案àncase

杀人 describes killing a person, and 案 gives case, yielding a murder case.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 殺; 杀 is its simplified writing.

人人rénperson
又又yòuright hand

The traditional form 殺 comes from an old drawing of a boar impaled in the head, with 人 and 又 added to show a person doing the killing; the simplified 杀 is a later abbreviation.

Open 杀 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

木安案

Meaning part形符xíngfú

木木mù

Sound part声符shēngfú

安

安ān案àn

Same sound today