大熊座 (dà xióng zuò) — Ursa Major (constellation); the Great Bear | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

Ursa Major (constellation)the Great Bear

Examples

大熊座，。
Wǎn shàng yòng wàng yuǎn jìng guān chá dà xióng zuò, néng kàn dào hěn duō xīng xing.
Observing Ursa Major with a telescope at night, you can see many stars.
大熊座。
dà xióng zuò Shì běi bàn qiú zuì zhù míng de xīng zuò zhī yī.
Ursa Major is one of the most famous constellations in the Northern Hemisphere.
大熊座。
Gǔ rén bǎ dà xióng zuò xiǎng xiàng chéng yì tóu dà xióng.
Ancient people imagined Ursa Major as a great bear.

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.

大熊great bear

大dàgreat熊xióngbear

偏正Modifier + head

座zuòconstellation

The 大熊 (great bear) names the 座 constellation.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

能能néngbear

Sound part声符shēngfú

炎

炎yán熊xióng

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

熊 is made of 能 and 炎. It originally represented a word for raging flame; when 能 was borrowed for another word, 熊 came to write 'bear'.

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

广坐座

Meaning part形符xíngfú

广广guǎnghouse on cliff

Sound part声符shēngfú

坐

坐zuò座zuò

Same sound today

座 pairs 广, a house on a cliff, with 坐 to give the sound.

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