营部 (yíng bù) — battalion headquarters

Definition

noun
battalion headquarters

Examples

  • 营部。
    Yíng zhǎng zhèng zài yíng bù kāi huì.
    The battalion commander is having a meeting at battalion headquarters.
  • 营部。
    Shàng jí mìng lìng wǒ men lì kè huí yíng bù.
    The higher-ups ordered us to return to battalion headquarters immediately.
  • 营部。
    yíng bù De diàn huà yì zhí xiǎng gè bù tíng.
    The phone at battalion headquarters hasn't stopped ringing.

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.

营yíngbattalion
部bùheadquarters

营 and 部 combine to mean the headquarters of a battalion.

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 營; 营 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
宮宮gōngpalace
Sound part声符shēngfú
熒
熒yíng營yíng
Same sound today

The traditional form 營 pairs 宮 (palace) with 熒 as a sound part, depicting a person working all night with a light on his house; the simplified 营 is a later abbreviation.

Open 营 →

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
邑邑yì
Sound part声符shēngfú
咅
咅pǒu部bù
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

部 pairs 咅, which gives the sound, with 邑. It originally named a place in today's Gansu.

Open 部 →

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