单行道 (dān xíng dào) — one-way street

Definition

noun

one-way street

Measure word · 条

单行道。
Zhè shì yì tiáo dān xíng dào.
This is a one-way street.
，单行道。
Yì zhí zǒu, nǐ huì zài zuǒ biān kàn dào yì tiáo dān xíng dào.
Go straight, and you will see a one-way street on your left.
，单行道，。
Xiǎo xīn, nà shì yì tiáo dān xíng dào, bù néng diào tóu.
Be careful, that's a one-way street, you can't make a U-turn.

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.

单行single-direction travel

偏正Modifier + head

单行 (single-direction travel) and 道 (road) combine to mean a one-way street.

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.

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

彳亍行

The shape of 行 originally showed a street intersection, even on both sides. Later it became uneven, with 彳 on the left and 亍 on the right.

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

行行xíngstreet

Sound part声符shēngfú

𩠐

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

Early 道 showed a street 行, a foot 止, and a part written 首 or 𩠐; the right part of 行 later disappeared.

Appears in