天文台 (tiān wén tái) — astronomical observatory

Definition

noun

astronomical observatory

Measure word · 座

天文台。
Tā zuó tiān qù le yí tàng tiān wén tái.
He went to the observatory yesterday.
天文台。
Zhè ge tiān wén tái lǐ yǒu hěn dà de wàng yuǎn jìng.
This observatory has a very large telescope.
天文台。
Hěn duō xué shēng dào tiān wén tái lái cān guān.
Many students come to the observatory to visit.

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.

天文astronomy

偏正Modifier + head

台táiplatform

天 means sky and 文 means patterns, making astronomy, with 台 meaning platform.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

丁

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

The shape comes from a frontal standing man 大 with a head; 天 pairs 大 with 丁 for sound.

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

The current form 文 shows a man with head, arms, legs, and chest; the tattoo marks on the chest are no longer drawn.

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