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保险杠 (bǎo xiǎn gàng) — car bumper

Definition

noun
car bumper
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 保险杠。
    Wǒ de chē bǎo xiǎn gàng bèi zhuàng huài le.
    My car's bumper was damaged in a collision.
  • 保险杠。
    Tā gěi xīn chē zhuāng le yí gè gèng jiē shi de bǎo xiǎn gàng.
    He installed a sturdier bumper on his new car.
  • 保险杠。
    Xiū lǐ bǎo xiǎn gàng xū yào huā bù shǎo qián.
    Repairing the bumper costs quite a bit of money.

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.

保险safety
保bǎoprotect险xiǎndanger
动宾Verb + object
杠gàngbar

“保险” means safety or insurance, and “杠” means bar, so it is a safety bar on a car.

Characters in this word

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

保 originally showed a person 人 carrying a child 子 on their back, which led to the sense of protecting.

Open 保 →

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 險; 险 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
阝Written in full as阜fù
Sound part声符shēngfú
僉
僉qiān險
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 險 pairs 阝, written in full as 阜, with 僉, which gives the sound; the simplified 险 is a shorthand.

Open 险 →

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
木木mùtree
Sound part声符shēngfú
工
工gōng杠gàng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

杠 has 木 (tree) on the left and 工 on the right. The 木 part is about wood, and 工 gives the sound.

Open 杠 →
Appears in
Vehicles

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