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跨国公司 (kuà guó gōng sī) — multinational corporation, transnational company

Definition

noun
multinational corporationtransnational company
Measure word · 家

Examples

  • 跨国公司。
    Zhè jiā kuà guó gōng sī zài quán qiú dōu yǒu bàn shì chù.
    This multinational corporation has offices all over the world.
  • 跨国公司。
    Tā zài yì jiā dà xíng kuà guó gōng sī dān rèn cái wù zǒng jiān.
    She works as a financial director at a large multinational corporation.
  • 跨国公司。
    kuà guó gōng sī De běn dì huà cè lüè duì shì chǎng chéng gōng zhì guān zhòng yào.
    The localization strategy of a multinational corporation is crucial to market success.

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.

跨国cross countries
跨kuàcross国guócountry
动宾Verb + object
公司company
公gōngpublic司sīoffice
偏正Modifier + head

跨国 joins 跨 and 国 to suggest crossing countries, while 公司 joins 公 and 司 to suggest a public business.

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
足足zú
Sound part声符shēngfú
夸
夸kuā跨kuà
Same sound today

The left part 足, a foot, points to stepping or striding, while the right part 夸 gives the sound.

Open 跨 →

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 國; 国 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
囗囗wéiclosure
Sound part声符shēngfú
或
或huò國guó
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 國 uses 囗 to show closure and 或 to give the sound.

Open 国 →

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

One theory sees 公 as a picture of a wide-mouthed, round-bottomed jar.

Open 公 →

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

The evidence is inconclusive: one suggestion sees 司 as a mouth giving orders beside a mark of authority, another reads that mark as a hand, and another sees it as a reversed older form.

Open 司 →
Appears in
Business & Commerce

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