女神像 (nǚ shén xiàng) — statue of a goddess; goddess statue

Definition

noun

statue of a goddessgoddess statue

Measure word · 尊

Examples

女神像。
Niǔ yuē de nǚ shén xiàng shì zhù míng de lǚ yóu jǐng diǎn.
The Statue of Liberty in New York is a famous tourist attraction.
女神像。
Zhè zuò nǚ shén xiàng shì yòng dà lǐ shí diāo kè de.
This goddess statue is carved from marble.
女神像。
Bó wù guǎn lǐ yǒu yì zūn gǔ lǎo de nǚ shén xiàng.
There is an ancient goddess statue in the museum.

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.

女神goddess

女nǚfemale神shéndeity

偏正Modifier + head

像xiàngstatue

“女神” (female deity) specifies what kind of “像” (statue) it is.

Characters in this word

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

女 shows a woman with folded arms, kneeling or standing. In the modern form the figure faces right, and the small enclosed part is what is left of one arm.

Open 女 →

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

示示shìgod; deity

Sound part声符shēngfú

申

申shēn神shén

Same sound today

The older form 申 drew lightning, which the ancients regarded as divine; 神 adds 示 (god/deity) to mark that meaning.

Open 神 →

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

亻象像