伤寒 (shāng hán) — typhoid fever | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

typhoid fever

伤寒。
Tā dé le shāng hán.
He contracted typhoid fever.
伤寒。
shāng hán Shì yì zhǒng yán zhòng de chuán rǎn bìng.
Typhoid fever is a serious infectious disease.
伤寒。
Yī shēng zhèng zài gěi huàn zhě zhì liáo shāng hán.
The doctor is treating the patient for typhoid fever.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

伤 (harmed by) 寒 (cold) names illness brought on by cold.

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 傷; 伤 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

𥏻

𥏻𥏻傷shāng

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

The traditional form 傷 shows 人, a person, and uses 𥏻 to give the sound; the simplified 伤 is a later shorthand.

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

寒 shows 宀 (house), 人 (person), and 茻 (grass): a person sleeping in grass inside a house to keep out the cold.

Appears in