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症

癥
zhēng / zhèng
noun #1,936

Meanings

  1. 1 abdominal lump (in traditional Chinese medicine)
  2. 2 bound morpheme in 症结: the crux or sticking point

Examples

我们 必须 找到 问题 的 症结。
Wǒmen bìxū zhǎodào wèntí de zhēngjié.
We must find the crux of the problem.
谈判 的 症结 在于 价格 分歧。
Tánpàn de zhēngjié zàiyú jiàgé fēnqí.
The sticking point of the negotiation lies in the price disagreement.

Tips

history
The zhēng reading comes from the traditional glyph 癥, a traditional-medicine term for a hard lump or blockage in the abdomen. The metaphor jumped from medicine into general use: 症结 literally 'lump-knot,' now mostly 'the crux / blockage of an issue.' The 1956 simplification merged 癥 into 症, so the tone is the only thing distinguishing the two readings today.
usage
In modern Mandarin, the zhēng reading is essentially confined to 症结 and a couple of TCM technical terms. Everywhere else 症 is read zhèng — including the look-alike compound 症候 (illness, symptoms).

Components

radical
疒 nè
sickness (radical form)
Outer sickness-radical 疒 — the indexing radical, picturing a person reclining on a bed. Standard wrapper for illness vocabulary: 病 (ill), 疼 (ache), 疲 (weary), 疫 (epidemic). Sets the semantic stage: a body laid out under a roof, suffering.
phonetic
正 zhèng
upright; correct
Inner 正 supplies the sound zhèng exactly. Phonetic family: 政 (politics), 整 (whole), 征 (campaign) — all on 正. Semantically silent here, but a happy mnemonic accident: 正 means 'correct,' so 症 reads as 'pinning down the correct (diagnosis) for the illness.'

Stroke Order

症 zhēng