烧光 (shāo guāng) — burn completely

Definition

A resultative verb meaning to burn something up completely so nothing remains. Pairs naturally with 把 to mark the thing that gets fully destroyed (把…烧光).

verb
burn completely
Easily confused

Examples

  • 烧光。
    Dà huǒ bǎ zhěng dòng lóu dōu shāo guāng le.
    The fire burned the entire building completely.
  • 烧光。
    Zhè xiē mì mì wén jiàn bì xū quán bù shāo guāng.
    These confidential documents must be burned completely.
  • 烧光，。
    Dí rén bǎ cūn zhuāng shāo guāng le, méi yǒu liú xià rèn hé dōng xī.
    The enemy burned the village completely, leaving nothing behind.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

烧shāoburn
光guāngcompletely consumed

'烧' means burn and '光' means completely consumed, so the action ends with nothing left.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 燒; 烧 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
火火huǒfire
Sound part声符shēngfú
堯
堯yáo燒shāo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 燒 pairs 火 (fire) with 堯, which supplies the sound; the simplified 烧 is a shorthand.

Open 烧 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 火火huǒfire
  • 卩卩jiékneeling person

The shape 光 places 火 (fire) above 卩 (a kneeling person), showing fire over the head and the shining of light.

Open 光 →

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