营长 (yíng cháng) — battalion commander (military rank)

Definition

noun
battalion commander (military rank)
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 营长。
    yíng cháng Mìng lìng quán yíng shì bīng lì kè jí hé.
    The battalion commander ordered all soldiers in the battalion to assemble immediately.
  • 营长，。
    Tā dāng le sān nián yíng cháng, jīng yàn hěn fēng fù.
    He has been a battalion commander for three years and is very experienced.
  • 营长。
    Xīn lái de yíng cháng fēi cháng yán gé.
    The newly arrived battalion commander is very strict.

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
长chángcommander

营 is a battalion and 长 is its commander, giving a battalion commander.

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 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 長; 长 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 長 pictures an old man with long hair. The simplified 长 is a later shorthand, so its strokes do not show that original picture.

Open 长 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.