奶牛 (nǎi niú) — dairy cow, milk cow

Definition

noun
dairy cowmilk cow
Measure word ·

Examples

  • 奶牛
    Nóng chǎng lǐ yǎng le sān shí tóu nǎi niú.
    The farm has thirty dairy cows.
  • 奶牛
    Zhè xiē nǎi niú měi tiān chǎn nǎi yuē èr shí shēng.
    These milk cows produce about twenty liters of milk per day.
  • 奶牛
    Cūn mín kào yǎng zhí nǎi niú tuō pín zhì fù.
    The villagers got out of poverty and became rich by raising dairy cows.

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.

奶 milk specifies the kind of 牛 cow, giving a milk cow.

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
nǎinǎi
Same sound today

奶 combines 女, a woman, and 乃, which gives the sound.

Open 奶 →

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

牛 is drawn as a bull's head, with two horns and two ears.

Open 牛 →

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