刑台 (xíng tāi) — Xingtai (city in Hebei)

Definition

Note: the dictionary entry refers to 邢台 (Xíngtái), a city in Hebei province. The headword 刑台 is a likely data error; learners should encounter it as the place name.

noun
Xingtai (city in Hebei)
Easily confused

Examples

  • 刑台。
    Wǒ míng nián jì huà qù xíng tāi lǚ yóu.
    I plan to travel to Xingtai next year.
  • 刑台。
    xíng tāi De lì shǐ wén huà fēi cháng fēng fù.
    Xingtai's historical culture is very rich.
  • 。
    Tā cóng xíng tāi bān dào běi jīng gōng zuò le.
    He moved from Xingtai to Beijing for work.

Origin

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
刀刀dāo
Sound part声符shēngfú
井
井jǐng刑xíng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

刑 puts 刀 (knife) beside 井. The knife part shows the punishment idea, and 井 gives the sound.

Open 刑 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 臺; 台 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 台 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (窗台, 电视台) it is 臺; in others (台灯, 台球) (台风) it is 檯 or 台 or 颱.

The traditional form 臺 is the 喬 + 室 form; earlier versions combined a sound part with 室, and an old reading saw it as a watch tower.

Open 台 →

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