嘴角 (zuǐ jiǎo) — corners of the mouth

Definition

noun
corners of the mouth

Examples

  • 嘴角,。
    Tā zuǐ jiǎo wēi wēi shàng yáng, sì hū hěn gāo xìng.
    The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, as if he was very happy.
  • 嘴角。
    Tā zuǐ jiǎo yǒu yì kē xiǎo xiǎo de zhì.
    She has a little mole at the corner of her mouth.
  • ,嘴角。
    Chī dōng xī de shí hou, xiǎo xīn bú yào nòng zāng zuǐ jiǎo.
    When eating, be careful not to dirty the corners of your mouth.

Origin

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.

嘴zuǐmouth
角jiǎocorner

嘴 gives mouth and 角 gives corner, so together they name the corners of the mouth.

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
Sound part声符shēngfú
觜
觜zī嘴
Same sound today

嘴 pairs 口 (mouth) with 觜, which supplies its sound.

Open 嘴 →

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

The form 角 is a picture of a horn.

Open 角 →
Appears in

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