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英军 (Yīng jūn) — British troops; British military forces

Definition

noun
British troopsBritish military forces
Measure word · 支

Examples

  • 英军。
    Yīng jūn Zài èr zhàn zhōng zuò chū le zhòng yào gòng xiàn.
    The British troops made important contributions in World War II.
  • 英军。
    Dāng dì jū mín duì Yīng jūn de dào lái biǎo shì huān yíng.
    The local residents welcomed the arrival of the British forces.
  • 英军。
    Yīng jūn Hé měi jūn lián hé jǔ xíng le jūn shì yǎn xí.
    The British and American forces jointly held a military exercise.

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.

英yīngBritish
军jūnarmy

英 means British and 军 means army, so 英军 refers to British troops.

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
艹Written in full as艸cǎograss
Sound part声符shēngfú
央
央yāng英yīng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

英 pairs 艹 (grass) with 央, which gives the sound.

Open 英 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 軍; 军 is its simplified writing.

  • 車車jūcart; chariot
  • 勹勹bāoto surround

In the traditional form 軍, 車 shows the chariot sense, while the part now written 勹 is a sound part, not the 'surround' 勹. Simplified 军 is a later shorthand.

Open 军 →
Appears in
Military & Defense

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