单打 (dān dǎ) — (sports) singles; single combat; one-on-one fig…

Definition

noun

(sports) singlessingle combatone-on-one fight

Measure word · 场

单打。
Tā zài wǎng qiú dān dǎ bǐ sài zhōng yíng le.
He won in the tennis singles match.
单打。
Tā cān jiā le yǔ máo qiú dān dǎ xiàng mù.
She participated in the badminton singles event.
单打。
dān dǎ Shì yì zhǒng yī duì yī de zhàn dòu fāng shì.
Single combat is a one-on-one fighting method.

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.

打dǎplay; hit

单 means single and 打 means play or hit, so the word denotes playing one against one.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 單; 单 is its simplified writing.

The form 單 originally pictured a Y-shaped wooden stick with two stones on top.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

扌丁打

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒuhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

丁

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

打 uses 扌, a hand, to show an action done with the hand, and 丁 to give the sound.

Appears in