暴 bào violent
violent; brutal; tyrannical; sudden
How it came to be
会意 · Meaning + meaning · 假借 borrowed for its sound
Two or more parts whose meanings together make the new meaning.
The oracle bone form is a tiger and a dagger-axe, violence; later the word was written with a borrowed drawing of the sun and lifting hands.
用法
- Bound morpheme signaling sudden and extreme force, prefix-like in weather and behavior words.
- 暴雨 bàoyǔ is a torrential downpour (stronger than 大雨), and 暴力 bàolì "violence" is the standard word for physical/institutional violence in news and law.
- 暴露 bàolù "to expose/reveal" is used for secrets, weaknesses, or skin (身份暴露了 shēnfèn bàolù le, "the identity was exposed"), quite different from 暴雨/暴力's sense of raw force.
- 暴躁 bàozào describes a short, hot temper: 他脾气很暴躁 tā píqi hěn bàozào, "he has a hot temper", a common way to criticize someone's personality.