民航 (mín háng) — civil aviation

Definition

noun
civil aviation
Measure word · 家

Examples

  • 民航。
    Wǒ zuò mín háng cóng běi jīng fēi dào shàng hǎi.
    I flew from Beijing to Shanghai by civil aviation.
  • 民航。
    Tā zài mín háng gōng sī gōng zuò le shí nián.
    He has worked at a civil aviation company for ten years.
  • 民航。
    mín háng Yè de fā zhǎn dài dòng le lǚ yóu yè.
    The development of the civil aviation industry has driven tourism.

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.

民míncivilian
航hángaviation

'民' means civilian and '航' means aviation, together 'civil aviation'.

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.

Open 民 →

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
舟舟zhōuboat
Sound part声符shēngfú
亢
亢kàng航háng
Same sound today

航 shows a boat with 舟, and 亢 gives the character its sound.

Open 航 →

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