to annihilate
English · to annihilate
to annihilate, to wipe out completely
- 敌人被全部歼灭。Dírén bèi quánbù jiānmiè.The enemy was completely annihilated.
- 这款歼-20是先进的战机。Zhè kuǎn jiān-èrshí shì xiānjìn de zhànjī.This J-20 is an advanced fighter jet.
Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 6 strokes
Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (歹) takes up about one-third of the width, while the right phonetic component (戔) takes up the remaining two-thirds. Keep the components balanced horizontally without letting the right side collapse.
Simplification Logic: The traditional form 殲 uses 戔 on the right, which was retained in the simplified character, while the left radical is the standard simplified variant for death and decay.
Radical 歹 · Death / Bone Radical (death, decay, misfortune)
Semantic Clue (形旁): 歹 (Indicates destruction, death, and military annihilation)
Phonetic Clue (声旁): 戔 (original sound: jiān)
The death radical (歹) combined with the spear/halberd components of (戔) depicts weapons bringing total death and annihilation.
- 歹 death or decay semantic clue
- 戔 phonetic clue providing the sound 'jiān'
Origin: Formed as a phono-semantic compound where the left component (歹) relates to ruin and death, and the right component (戔) provides the phonetic sound and suggests small fragments or reduction.
Semantic Evolution: Originally meant to cut or reduce to small pieces, it evolved to refer specifically to wiping out or annihilating an enemy force in battle.
- Modern military terminology frequently uses this character as an abbreviation for fighter jets, such as the 歼-20.
To ANNIHILATE (jiān) the enemy, death (歹) weapons (戔) slice everything into tiny pieces until none remain.
jiānConfusing the left radical 歹 with 氵 (water) or mixing up its pronunciation with qiǎn or qián due to the shared phonetic component 戔.
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