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照明弹 (zhào míng dàn) — flare; star shell (military illumination projectile)

Definition

noun
flarestar shell (military illumination projectile)
Measure word · 颗

Examples

  • 照明弹。
    Jūn duì fā shè le yì kē zhào míng dàn.
    The military launched a flare.
  • 照明弹。
    zhào míng dàn Zhào liàng le zhěng gè zhàn chǎng.
    The flare illuminated the entire battlefield.
  • 照明弹。
    Fēi xíng yuán fā shè zhào míng dàn zuò wéi qiú jiù xìn hào.
    The pilot launched a flare as a distress signal.

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.

照明illuminate
照zhàoshine明míngbright
补充Verb + complement
弹tánprojectile

照明 (shine to make bright) and 弹 (projectile) together name a shell that lights up an area.

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
灬Written in full as火huǒfire
Sound part声符shēngfú
昭
昭zhāo照zhào
Same sound today

照 uses 灬, a bottom form of 火 (fire), plus 昭 for the sound.

Open 照 →

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

明 combines 日 (sun) and 月 (moon), showing the sun just rising while the moon has not yet set, or two bright objects in the sky, to express brightness.

Open 明 →

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 彈; 弹 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
弓弓gōng
Sound part声符shēngfú
單
單dān彈tán
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 彈 pairs 弓 (bow) with the sound part 單; the simplified 弹 is a shorthand.

Open 弹 →
Appears in
Military & Defense

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