七巧板 (qī qiǎo bǎn) — tangram; seven-piece puzzle

Definition

noun

tangramseven-piece puzzle

Measure word · 副

七巧板。
Zhè ge qī qiǎo bǎn shì yòng qī kuài bù tóng xíng zhuàng de bǎn pīn chéng de.
This tangram is made of seven pieces of different shapes.
七巧板。
Hái zi men xǐ huan yòng qī qiǎo bǎn pīn chū gè zhǒng yǒu qù de tú àn.
Children like using tangrams to create all kinds of fun patterns.
七巧板。
Jīn tiān shù xué kè wǒ men xué xí le qī qiǎo bǎn de pīn fǎ.
In today's math class we learned how to assemble a tangram.

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.

七巧seven ingenious

主谓Subject + predicate

七巧 means seven ingenious pieces, and 板 means board; the name refers to the tangram puzzle.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 七 comes from two crossing lines: the top line runs left to right, and the next line goes down and across.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

工丂巧

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

丂

丂kǎo巧qiǎo

Same sound today

巧 is made of 工 and 丂; 工 points to its meaning, and 丂 points to its sound.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

木反板

Meaning part形符xíngfú

木木mùtree

Sound part声符shēngfú

反

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

板 pairs 木 (tree) with 反 as a sound part.