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突起 (tū qǐ) — to suddenly appear, to break out (of war, disease, etc.); to rise high, to protrude, to tower

Definition

As a verb, 突起 means to rise sharply or jut up (peaks, buildings) and to break out or erupt suddenly (war, disease, conflict) — a formal/literary verb, more written than the everyday 突然出现.

verb
to suddenly appearto break out (of war, disease, etc.)to rise highto protrudeto tower

Examples

  • 突起，。
    Zhàn zhēng tū qǐ, rén mín liú lí shī suǒ.
    War broke out, and people were displaced from their homes.
  • 突起，。
    Shān fēng tū qǐ, zhí chā yún xiāo.
    The mountain peak rises abruptly, piercing the clouds.
  • 突起。
    Pí fū shàng tū qǐ le yí gè xiǎo hóng bāo.
    A small red bump suddenly appeared on the skin.

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.

突tūsuddenly
起qǐrise

突 points to suddenness and 起 to rising or appearing; together they mean to break out.

Characters in this word

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

突 shows 犬 (dog) under 穴 (cave; den), as a dog suddenly coming out of a den.

Open 突 →

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
走走zǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
巳
巳sì起qǐ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

起 is made from 走 and 巳: 走 is the part connected with walking or running, and 巳 gives the sound.

Open 起 →
Appears in
Change & Process

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