议院 (yì yuàn) — legislature; parliament; congress

Definition

noun

legislatureparliamentcongress

Measure word · 所

议院。
yì yuàn Tōng guò le zhè xiàng xīn fǎ lǜ.
The legislature passed this new law.
议院。
Tā zài yì yuàn gōng zuò le hěn duō nián.
He worked in parliament for many years.
议院。
yì yuàn Zhèng zài tǎo lùn jīng jì gǎi gé fāng àn.
The congress is discussing the economic reform plan.

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yìdeliberation

院yuàninstitution

'议' means deliberation and '院' means institution or hall, giving a deliberative institution.

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.

言義議

Meaning part形符xíngfú

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.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

阝完院

Meaning part形符xíngfú

阝Written in full as阜fù

Sound part声符shēngfú

完

完wán院yuàn

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

院 is built from 阝, written in full as 阜, and 完, which gives the sound.

Appears in