礼炮 (lǐ pào) — gun salute; salvo (ceremonial firing of cannons…

Definition

noun

gun salutesalvo (ceremonial firing of cannons or guns)

Measure word · 响

，礼炮。
Guó qìng jié nà tiān, tiān ān mén guǎng chǎng xiǎng qǐ le lǐ pào.
On National Day, gun salutes rang out in Tiananmen Square.
，礼炮。
Yíng jiē wài guó yuán shǒu shí, tōng cháng huì míng fàng èr shí yī xiǎng lǐ pào.
When welcoming a foreign head of state, a 21-gun salute is usually fired.
礼炮。
Hūn lǐ shàng fàng de lǐ pào shēng yīn hěn dà.
The gun salute at the wedding was very loud.

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.

礼lǐceremony

礼 gives ceremony and 炮 gives cannon, meaning a ceremonial gun salute.

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 禮; 礼 is its simplified writing.

礻豊禮

Meaning part形符xíngfú

礻Written in full as示shìaltar

Sound part声符shēngfú

豊

豊lǐ禮lǐ

Same sound today

The traditional form 禮 pairs 礻 (altar) with 豊, a sound part, for performing rites at the altar; the simplified 礼 is a later shorthand.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

火包炮

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

包

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

炮 combines 火 and 包; 包 supplies the sound.