产前 (chǎn qián) — antenatal, prenatal | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

antenatalprenatal

产前。
Tā xū yào zuò chǎn qián jiǎn chá.
She needs to do a prenatal checkup.
产前。
chǎn qián Jiào yù duì yùn fù fēi cháng zhòng yào.
Prenatal education is very important for pregnant women.
产前。
Yī shēng jiàn yì tā zhù yì chǎn qián yíng yǎng.
The doctor advises her to pay attention to prenatal nutrition.

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.

产chǎnchildbirth

产 refers to childbirth, and 前 points to the time before it, giving the meaning prenatal.

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 產; 产 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

生生shēngto be born

Sound part声符shēngfú

彥

彥yàn產chǎn

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

The traditional form 產 pairs 生, "to be born," with 彥 as a sound part; the simplified 产 is a shorthand.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

In the older form of 前, 止 (foot) and 舟 (boat) showed a foot on a boat moving forward; in the current 前 those parts are shortened.

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