塔台 (tǎ tái) — control tower (at an airport)

Definition

noun

control tower (at an airport)

Measure word · 个

塔台。
Fēi jī qǐ fēi qián bì xū dé dào tǎ tái de xǔ kě.
Aircraft must obtain permission from the control tower before takeoff.
塔台。
tǎ tái Lǐ de gōng zuò rén yuán tōng guò wú xiàn diàn yǐn dǎo fēi jī jiàng luò.
Workers in the control tower guide planes to land via radio.
塔台。
Xīn jiàn de tǎ tái pèi bèi le zuì xiān jìn de léi dá xì tǒng.
The newly built control tower is equipped with the most advanced radar system.

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.

台táiplatform; stand

The tower 塔 and platform 台 combine to name a high stand, especially an airport control tower.

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.

土荅塔

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

荅

荅dá塔tǎ

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

塔 shows 土 (earth) for the meaning and 荅 (dá) for the sound.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 臺; 台 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 台 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (窗台, 电视台) it is 臺; in others (台灯, 台球) (台风) it is 檯 or 台 or 颱.

The traditional form 臺 is the 喬 + 室 form; earlier versions combined a sound part with 室, and an old reading saw it as a watch tower.

Appears in