邮政 (yóu zhèng) — postal service | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

邮政 refers to the postal system or service as a whole (an institution/industry). 邮局 is the physical post office building you visit, and 邮编 is its numerical zip code.

noun

postal service

Examples

。
yóu zhèng Jú lí wǒ jiā bù yuǎn.
The post office is not far from my home.
。
Tā měi tiān qù yóu zhèng jú qǔ xìn.
He goes to the post office every day to pick up mail.
邮政。
yóu zhèng Fú wù zài piān yuǎn dì qū yě hěn zhòng yào.
Postal service is also very important in remote areas.

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.

政zhèngadministration

邮政 joins 邮 (mail) with 政 (administration), giving the idea of mail administration or postal service.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 郵; 邮 is its simplified writing.

垂垂chuífar, remote
邑邑yìcity

The traditional form 郵 pairs 垂 (“far, remote”) with 邑 (“city”) to show a relay station; the simplified 邮 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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

攴攴pūaction

Sound part声符shēngfú

正

正zhèng政zhèng

Same sound today

政 combines 正, which gives the sound, with 攴, an action-related part.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Mail & Messaging

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