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土拨鼠 (tǔ bō shǔ) — marmot (a burrowing rodent of the genus Marmota)

Definition

noun
marmot (a burrowing rodent of the genus Marmota)
Measure word · 只

Examples

  • 土拨鼠。
    Ā ěr bēi sī shān shàng yǒu xǔ duō yě shēng tǔ bō shǔ.
    There are many wild marmots in the Alps.
  • 土拨鼠。
    tǔ bō shǔ Zài dōng tiān huì jìn rù dōng mián zhuàng tài.
    Marmots enter a state of hibernation in winter.
  • 土拨鼠。
    Zhè zhǒng tǔ bō shǔ de jiào shēng fēi cháng xiǎng liàng.
    The call of this kind of marmot is very loud.

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.

土拨earth-poking
土tǔearth拨bōpoke
偏正Modifier + head
鼠shǔrat

土 and 拨 suggest poking earth, and 鼠 means rat, naming a burrowing rodent.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 土 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 撥; 拨 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
手手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
發
發fā撥bō
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 撥 combines 手 (hand) with 發, which gives the sound; the simplified 拨 is a different form.

Open 拨 →

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

The shape of 鼠 pictures a rat: the upper part looks like an open mouth with teeth, while the lower part shows two feet on the left and a tail on the right.

Open 鼠 →
Appears in
Animals & Mammals

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