书脊 (shū jǐ) — spine (of a book) | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

spine (of a book)

书脊。
shū jǐ Shàng xiě zhe shū míng hé zuò zhě.
The spine has the title and the author written on it.
书脊。
Zhè běn shū de shū jǐ yǒu diǎn huài le.
The spine of this book is a bit damaged.
书脊。
Cóng shū jǐ néng zhī dào shì nǎ běn shū.
From the spine you can tell which book it is.

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.

'书' gives book and '脊' gives spine, naming the spine of a book.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 書; 书 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

聿聿yùwriting brush

Sound part声符shēngfú

者

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 書 uses 聿, a writing brush, and 者 for its sound; the simplified 书 is a later shorthand.

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

肉肉ròuflesh

Sound part声符shēngfú

朿

朿cì脊jǐ

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

The original drawing of 脊 showed a fish spine; later 肉 (flesh) was added to point to the meaning, while the upper 朿 part supplied the sound.