农活 (nóng huó) — farm work | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

farm work

Examples

农活。
Tā měi tiān dōu yào zuò hěn duō nóng huó.
He has to do a lot of farm work every day.
农活，。
Zhè xiē nóng huó suī rán xīn kǔ, dàn hěn yǒu yì yì.
Although this farm work is hard, it is very meaningful.
农活。
Wǒ xiǎo shí hou jīng cháng bāng fù mǔ gān nóng huó.
When I was little, I often helped my parents with farm work.

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.

农nóngfarm

活huówork

农 gives farming, and 活 gives work, so the word means farm work.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 農; 农 is its simplified writing.

林林línvegetation
辰辰chénhoe

The traditional form 農 comes from 林 (vegetation) and 辰 (a hoe), showing a hoe among vegetation to remove weeds; the simplified 农 is a later abbreviation.

Open 农 →

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

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

𠯑

𠯑𠯑活huó

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

活 is built from 氵 (water) and 𠯑, which shows the sound; 𠯑 later changed into 舌.

Open 活 →

Appears in

Agriculture & Farming