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天竺鼠 (tiān zhú shǔ) — guinea pig

Definition

noun
guinea pig
Measure word · 只

Examples

  • 天竺鼠。
    Wǒ jiā de tiān zhú shǔ hěn kě ài.
    My family's guinea pig is very cute.
  • 天竺鼠。
    Xiǎo péng yǒu men dōu xǐ huan kàn tiān zhú shǔ chī dōng xī.
    Children all like to watch the guinea pig eat.
  • 天竺鼠。
    tiān zhú shǔ De máo yòu ruǎn yòu bái.
    The guinea pig's fur is both soft and white.

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.

天竺India
天tiān竺zhú
联绵Bound pair
鼠shǔrat

天竺 points to India, and 鼠 marks it as a rat.

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
大大dà
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng天tiān
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.

Open 天 →

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
二二èr
Sound part声符shēngfú
𥫗
竹zhú竺zhú
Same sound today

竺 puts 二 under 竹: 竹 gives the sound, and 二 is part of the meaning.

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

The shape of 鼠 pictures a rat: the upper part looks like an open mouth with teeth, while the lower part shows two feet on the left and a tail on the right.

Open 鼠 →
Appears in
Animals & Mammals

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