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警长 (jǐng cháng) — police chief

Definition

Refers to the head of a local police station (a sheriff-like role) rather than the national-level 警察局长. Used in Mainland contexts for a small jurisdiction's top officer.

noun
police chief
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 警长。
    jǐng cháng Zhèng zài diào chá zhè ge àn jiàn.
    The police chief is investigating this case.
  • 警长。
    Xīn lái de jǐng cháng hěn yǒu jīng yàn.
    The newly arrived police chief is very experienced.
  • 警长。
    Jū mín men zài huì yì shàng xiàng jǐng cháng fǎn yìng le zhì ān wèn tí.
    Residents brought up public security issues to the police chief at the meeting.

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.

警jǐngpolice
长chángchief

警 (police) and 长 (chief) combine to mean the chief of a police force.

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
言言yánspoken language, speech
Sound part声符shēngfú
敬
敬jìng警
Same sound today

警 places 言 (speech) below 敬; 敬 gives the sound.

Open 警 →

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 →
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