单杠 (dān gàng) — horizontal bar (the apparatus used in gymnastic…

Definition

noun

horizontal bar (the apparatus used in gymnastics)horizontal bar (the gymnastics event)

Measure word · 根

单杠。
Yùn dòng yuán zài dān gàng shàng zuò le yí gè piào liang de huí huán dòng zuò.
The athlete performed a beautiful giant swing on the horizontal bar.
单杠，。
Tā cóng xiǎo jiù xǐ huan liàn dān gàng, mèng xiǎng chéng wéi ào yùn guàn jūn.
He has enjoyed training on the horizontal bar since childhood and dreams of becoming an Olympic champion.
、单杠。
Zhè cì bǐ sài shè zhì le ān mǎ, diào huán hé dān gàng sān gè xiàng mù.
This competition includes three events: pommel horse, rings, and horizontal bar.

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.

单 means single, and 杠 means bar; together they name the single bar used in gymnastics.

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.

木工杠

Meaning part形符xíngfú

木木mùtree

Sound part声符shēngfú

工

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

杠 has 木 (tree) on the left and 工 on the right. The 木 part is about wood, and 工 gives the sound.