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公寓楼 (gōng yù lóu) — apartment building

Definition

noun
apartment building
Measure word · 座

Examples

  • 公寓楼。
    Wǒ zhù zài yí gè hěn dà de gōng yù lóu lǐ.
    I live in a very big apartment building.
  • 公寓楼。
    Nà ge gōng yù lóu yǒu sān shí céng.
    That apartment building has thirty floors.
  • 公寓楼。
    Tā men zài zhè ge gōng yù lóu lǐ zhù le shí nián.
    They have lived in this apartment building for ten years.

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.

公寓apartment
公gōngpublic寓yùresidence
偏正Modifier + head
楼lóubuilding

公寓 names an apartment, from 公 and 寓, and 楼 names a building, so it is an apartment building.

Characters in this word

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

One theory sees 公 as a picture of a wide-mouthed, round-bottomed jar.

Open 公 →

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
宀宀mián
Sound part声符shēngfú
禺
禺yú寓yù
Same sound today

寓 combines 宀, a roof, with 禺, which gives the sound.

Open 寓 →

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 樓; 楼 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mùtree
Sound part声符shēngfú
婁
婁lóu樓lóu
Same sound today

The traditional form 樓 pairs 木 (tree) with 婁 as its sound part; the simplified 楼 is a later shorthand.

Open 楼 →
Appears in
Home & Housing

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