小狗 (xiǎo gǒu) — puppy | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

puppy

Measure word · 只

Examples

小狗。
Lín jū jiā yǎng le yì zhī kě ài de xiǎo gǒu.
The neighbor has a cute puppy.
小狗。
xiǎo gǒu Zài cǎo dì shàng pǎo lái pǎo qù.
The puppy is running around on the grass.
小狗。
Tā gěi xiǎo gǒu mǎi le yí gè xīn wán jù.
She bought a new toy for the puppy.

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.

小 (young) and 狗 (dog) combine to mean a young dog.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

八八bāto divide; to separate
丨丨gǔnsmall object

The shape of 小 comes from three small dots, later elongated into its strokes; the apparent parts 八 and 丨 are a later way of seeing it.

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

句

句jù狗gǒu

Same sound today

狗 combines 犬, meaning dog, with 句, which gives the sound.

Appears in

Animals & Mammals

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