姑父 (gū fu) — uncle (husband of one's father's sister)

Definition

noun

uncle (husband of one's father's sister)

Measure word · 个

姑父。
Wǒ gū fu shì gè hěn hé ǎi de rén.
My uncle is a very kind person.
姑父。
Měi nián chūn jié wǒ dōu qù gū fu jiā bài nián.
Every Spring Festival I go to my uncle's house to pay a New Year's visit.
姑父。
gū fu Dài wǒ men qù gōng yuán sàn bù.
My uncle took us for a walk in the park.

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.

姑 (aunt) and 父 (father) combine to name the aunt's husband.

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.

女古姑

Meaning part形符xíngfú

女女nǚwoman

Sound part声符shēngfú

古

Same sound today

The left part 女 marks it as a woman, and the right part 古 provides the sound. It is used for female relatives like an aunt or mother-in-law.

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

The shape 父 shows a hand holding a stone blade, referring to a man working with a stone axe.