大熊猫 (dà xióng māo) — giant panda | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

giant panda

Measure word · 只

大熊猫。
Wǒ hěn xǐ huan dà xióng māo.
I really like giant pandas.
大熊猫。
dà xióng māo Shì yì zhǒng hěn kě ài de dòng wù.
Giant pandas are a very cute kind of animal.
大熊猫。
Wǒ zuó tiān zài dòng wù yuán kàn le dà xióng māo.
I saw giant pandas at the zoo yesterday.

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.

熊猫panda

联合Coordinate

大 says large, and 熊猫 names the animal, yielding giant panda.

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

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

苗

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

猫 puts 犬 beside 苗; 犬 marks the animal sense, and 苗 gives the sound.

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