二郎 (èr láng) — (noun) short for 二郎神, a deity in Chinese mythology

Definition

Short for 二郎神, the Chinese god famous for his third eye and his battle with the Monkey King in Journey to the West.

noun
short for 二郎神a deity in Chinese mythology

Examples

  • 二郎。
    Hěn duō rén dōu zhī dào èr láng de gù shi.
    Many people know the story of Erlang.
  • 二郎。
    èr láng É tóu shàng yǒu dì sān zhī yǎn jing.
    Erlang has a third eye on his forehead.
  • 《》，二郎。
    Zài 《xī yóu jì》 lǐ, èr láng hé sūn wù kōng dǎ guò jià.
    In Journey to the West, Erlang fought with Sun Wukong.

Origin

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.

二èrsecond
郎lángson

二 means second and 郎 means son, so together they denote the second son.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

二 is drawn as two parallel strokes, where the number of strokes shows the amount.

Open 二 →

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
邑邑yìcounty; town
Sound part声符shēngfú
良
良liáng郎láng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

郎 combines 良, which gives the sound, with 邑, meaning county or town.

Open 郎 →

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