讣告 (fù gào) — obituary; announcement of someone's death

Definition

noun

obituaryannouncement of someone's death

Measure word · 份

，讣告。
Tā qù shì hòu, bào zhǐ shàng dēng le yì zé fù gào.
After he passed away, an obituary was published in the newspaper.
讣告，。
Jiā shǔ zài bào shàng fā le fù gào, gào zhī qīn yǒu.
The family published a death notice in the newspaper to inform relatives and friends.
讣告。
Zhè zhāng fù gào xiě dé hěn jiǎn duǎn.
This obituary was written very briefly.

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.

讣fùdeath report

讣告 joins 讣 (death report) with 告 (notice), giving a notice that announces a death.

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 訃; 讣 is its simplified writing.

言卜訃

Meaning part形符xíngfú

言言yánspeech

Sound part声符shēngfú

卜

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 訃 pairs 言 (speech) with 卜 for its sound; this describes 訃, not the simplified 讣.

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

The origin is unclear: one theory sees 告 as 壴 (a decorated drum) above 口 (an open mouth), while another sees a tongue sticking out of 口.

Appears in