案发 (àn fā) — (of a crime or incident) to occur; to come to l… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

案发 (ànfā) is a formal, written term used in news and legal contexts meaning a crime or incident has occurred or been discovered. It pairs with 地点 ('location') and 时间 ('time') when reporting on a case.

verb

(of a crime or incident) to occurto come to light

Examples

案发。
Jǐng fāng zhèng zài diào chá àn fā de jù tǐ qíng kuàng.
The police are investigating the specific circumstances of the incident.
案发。
àn fā Dì diǎn zài shì zhōng xīn yì jiā yín háng mén kǒu.
The incident took place at the entrance of a bank in the city center.
案发，。
àn fā Yǐ guò qù sān tiān, yī rán méi yǒu pò àn.
Three days have passed since the incident, yet the case remains unsolved.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

案 is the case and 发 says it occurs, so the word means a case comes to light.

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.

木安案

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

安

安ān案àn

Same sound today

案 pairs 木, a wood/tree shape, with 安, which is used for its sound.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 發; 发 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 发 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (爆发, 出发) it is 發; in others (理发, 头发) it is 髮.

The form 發, which 发 stands for in many words, was originally drawn as a bow firing an arrow.

Appears in

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