大佛 (dà fó) — large Buddha statue | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

large Buddha statue

Measure word · 尊

大佛，。
Zhè zuò dà fó fēi cháng yǒu míng, hěn duō yóu kè lái cān guān.
This giant Buddha is very famous; many tourists come to visit.
大佛。
Lè shān dà fó shì shì jiè shàng zuì dà de shí kè diāo xiàng zhī yī.
The Leshan Giant Buddha is one of the largest stone-carved statues in the world.
大佛。
Hěn duō rén zài dà fó qián pāi zhào liú niàn.
Many people take photos in front of the giant Buddha as a souvenir.

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.

大 gives size and 佛 refers to Buddha, together naming a large Buddha statue.

Characters in this word

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

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

亻弗佛

Meaning part形符xíngfú

亻Written in full as人rénperson

Sound part声符shēngfú

弗

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

佛 is made from 亻, a person, and 弗, which gives the sound.