降半旗 (jiàng bàn qí) — to fly a flag at half-mast (as a sign of mourni… | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

An institutional mourning ritual: lowering the national flag to half-mast. Almost always used for governments, schools, or public bodies marking a death or tragedy.

verb

to fly a flag at half-mast (as a sign of mourning)

Examples

降半旗，。
Jīn tiān quán guó jiàng bàn qí, dào niàn yù nàn zhě.
Today the whole country is flying flags at half-mast to mourn the victims.
，。
Wèi le jì niàn tā, zhèng fǔ jiàng le bàn qí.
To commemorate him, the government lowered the flag to half-mast.
降半旗。
Zhè ge guó jiā zài zhòng dà āi dào rì dōu huì jiàng bàn qí.
This country always flies flags at half-mast on major days of mourning.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

半旗half flag

半bànhalf旗qíflag

偏正Modifier + head

降 lowers a 半旗, a flag at half height, to mark mourning.

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.

阝夅降

Meaning part形符xíngfú

阝Written in full as阜fùhill, wall

Sound part声符shēngfú

夅

夅jiàng降xiáng

Same sound today

降 pairs 阝 (a hill or wall, written in full as 阜) with 夅, a sound part meaning 'to descend'; together they picture descending a hill.

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

八八bāto divide
牛牛niúcow

The shape pairs 八 (to divide) with 牛 (cow), showing a cow cut into two halves.

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

㫃㫃㫃flag

Sound part声符shēngfú

其

其qí旗qí

Same sound today

旗 pairs 㫃, a flag, with 其, which gives the pronunciation qí.

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