保龄球 (bǎo líng qiú) — bowling (the sport); bowling ball | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

bowling (the sport)bowling ball

Measure word · 个

Examples

保龄球。
Wǒ zhōu mò xǐ huan qù dǎ bǎo líng qiú.
I like to go bowling on weekends.
保龄球。
Tā mǎi le yí gè xīn de bǎo líng qiú.
He bought a new bowling ball.
。
Zhè jiā bǎo líng qiú guǎn hěn shòu huān yíng.
This bowling alley is very popular.

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.

保龄bowling

保bǎo龄líng

音译Transliteration

保龄 spells bowling, and 球 gives ball, naming a bowling ball or the sport.

Characters in this word

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

人人rénperson
子子zǐchild

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

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 齡; 龄 is its simplified writing.

齒令齡

Meaning part形符xíngfú

齒齒chǐtooth

Sound part声符shēngfú

令

令lìng齡líng

Same sound today

The traditional form 齡 shows 齒, a tooth, associated with age, and 令 for the sound; simplified 龄 is a later shorthand.

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

玉玉yùjade

Sound part声符shēngfú

求

求qiú球qiú

Same sound today

球 is built from 玉, meaning jade, and 求, which gives the sound.

Appears in

Sports & Athletics

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