民法 (mín fǎ) — civil law | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

civil law

民法。
mín fǎ Shì fǎ lǜ tǐ xì zhōng de yí gè zhòng yào bù fen.
Civil law is an important part of the legal system.
民法。
Xué xí mín fǎ xū yào huā hěn duō shí jiān.
Studying civil law takes a lot of time.
民法。
mín fǎ Bǎo hù le měi gè gōng mín de hé fǎ quán lì.
Civil law protects the legal rights of every citizen.

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.

民mínpeople/civil

民 names people or civil matters, 法 names law, together meaning law for civil life.

Characters in this word

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

The early form of 民 shows an eye pierced by a sharp cross-shaped implement, possibly linked to an injured or unclear eye.

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

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

廌廌zhìa type of antelope or caprid

Sound part声符shēngfú

盍

盍hé法fǎ

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

法's older form combined 氵 (water) and 廌 (a type of antelope or caprid), with 盍 as a sound part; later 廌 was dropped.