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太空船 (tài kōng chuán) — spaceship

Definition

noun
spaceship
Measure word · 艘

Examples

  • 太空船。
    Rén lèi dì yī cì chéng zuò tài kōng chuán qù yuè qiú.
    Humans took a spaceship to the moon for the first time.
  • 太空船。
    Zhè sōu tài kōng chuán jiāng zài míng nián fā shè.
    This spaceship will be launched next year.
  • 太空船。
    Kē xué jiā zhèng zài shè jì xīn xíng tài kōng chuán.
    Scientists are designing a new type of spaceship.

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.

太空outer space
太tàigreat空kōngspace
偏正Modifier + head
船chuánship

太空 means outer space, 船 means ship; together they denote a ship for travelling in space.

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.

太 is a modified form of 大, with an extra dot added to show 'too big'.

Open 太 →

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
穴穴xuécave, hole
Sound part声符shēngfú
工
工gōng空kōng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

空 is built from 穴, a cave or hole, and 工, which gives the sound.

Open 空 →

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
舟舟zhōuboat
Sound part声符shēngfú
㕣
㕣㕣船
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

船 pairs 舟 (boat) with 㕣 for its sound.

Open 船 →
Appears in
Space Exploration

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