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议会 (yì huì) — parliament; legislative assembly

Definition

The legislative body of a country — parliament or congress — that passes laws. Distinct from 政府 (the executive branch) and 法院 (the courts).

noun
parliamentlegislative assembly
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 议会。
    Yīng guó yì huì yóu shàng xià liǎng yuàn zǔ chéng.
    The British Parliament is composed of two houses: the House of Lords and the House of Commons.
  • 议会。
    Xīn fǎ lǜ xū yào huò dé yì huì de pī zhǔn.
    The new law needs to obtain approval from the legislative assembly.
  • 议会。
    Tā dāng xuǎn wèi yì huì yì yuán hòu kāi shǐ gōng zuò.
    After being elected as a member of parliament, she began her work.

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.

议yìdeliberate
会huìassembly

A 会 for 议, or deliberation, becomes a legislative assembly.

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 議; 议 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yántalk
Sound part声符shēngfú
義
義yì議⁰yì
Same sound today

The traditional form 議 pairs 言 (talk) with 義 as a sound component; the simplified 议 is a later shorthand.

Open 议 →

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 會; 会 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
合合héto meet
Sound part声符shēngfú
𡆧
𡆧𡆧會huì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

Traditional 會 pairs 合 (to meet) with 𡆧, an original form for ironware, to give the sound. The simplified 会 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original parts.

Open 会 →
Appears in
Government & Politics

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