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传单 (chuán dān) — leaflet; flier; pamphlet

Definition

noun
leafletflierpamphlet
Measure word · 张

Examples

  • 传单。
    Tā zài chāo shì mén kǒu fā chuán dān.
    He is handing out leaflets at the supermarket entrance.
  • 传单。
    Zhè zhāng chuán dān shàng de xìn xī hěn yǒu yòng.
    The information on this leaflet is very useful.
  • 传单。
    Qǐng bǎ chuán dān fā gěi lù guò de xíng rén.
    Please hand out the leaflets to passersby.

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.

传chuándistribute
单dānsheet

A 单 meant to be 传 gives the sense of a leaflet.

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 傳; 传 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
人人rénman
Sound part声符shēngfú
專
專zhuān傳chuán
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 傳 puts 人 (man) beside 專, which gives the sound; the simplified 传 is a later shorthand, and its parts are not the historical ones.

Open 传 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 單; 单 is its simplified writing.

The form 單 originally pictured a Y-shaped wooden stick with two stones on top.

Open 单 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Media & News

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