死讯 (sǐ xùn) — news of someone's death | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

News of someone's death; often used in writing or formal contexts. A near-synonym is 噩耗 (èhào), which is more literary and emphasizes shock.

noun

news of someone's death

Measure word · 个

Examples

死讯，。
Tā tīng dào fù qīn de sǐ xùn hòu, lì kè gǎn huí le lǎo jiā.
He rushed back to his hometown after hearing the news of his father's death.
死讯。
Jǐng fāng hái méi yǒu duì wài gōng bù sǐ xùn.
The police have not yet released the news of the death to the public.
，死讯。
È hào chuán lái, tā bù gǎn xiāng xìn zhè ge sǐ xùn shì zhēn de.
When the bad news came, she couldn't believe the news of the death was true.

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.

死, death, and 讯, news, combine to mean word of a death.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

尸

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

死 is built from 歹 and 尸: 歹 is the part tied to the meaning, and 尸 gives the sound.

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 訊; 讯 is its simplified writing.

言卂訊

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

卂

卂xùn訊xùn

Same sound today

The traditional form 訊 combines 言 (words) with 卂 as a sound part; the simplified 讯 is a shorthand.

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