啄食 (zhuó shí) — to peck at food (of birds)

Definition

Refers to birds pecking at food with their beaks — a specific action verb limited to avian subjects. Not interchangeable with general verbs like 吃.

verb

to peck at food (of birds)

Easily confused

啄食。
Xiǎo niǎo zài cǎo dì shàng zhuó shí.
The little bird is pecking at food on the grass.
。
Nà zhī jī zhuó le jǐ kǒu shí jiù fēi zǒu le.
That chicken pecked a few times and flew away.
啄食，。
Gē zi zài dì shàng zhuó shí, kàn qǐ lái hěn yōu xián.
The pigeon is pecking at food on the ground, looking very leisurely.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

啄食 pairs 啄 (peck) with 食 (food), describing a bird pecking at food.

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.

口豖啄

Meaning part形符xíngfú

口口kǒumouth

Sound part声符shēngfú

豖

豖chù啄zhuó

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

In 啄, the left part 口 is mouth, and the right part 豖 gives the sound.

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

The form behind 食 shows 亼, a mouth, together with 皀, a bowl of rice on a stand. In modern 食, the bowl part has changed shape.