小队 (xiǎo duì) — team; squad | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

teamsquad

Measure word · 个

Examples

小队。
Tā men fēn chéng sān gè xiǎo duì jìn xíng bǐ sài.
They divided into three squads to compete.
小队。
Zhè ge xiǎo duì de chéng yuán dōu hěn yǒu jīng yàn.
The members of this squad are all very experienced.
小队。
Wǒ men xiǎo duì fù zé zhè ge xiàng mù.
Our squad is responsible for this project.

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 (small) specifies 队 (team), giving a squad.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 隊; 队 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

阜阜fù

Sound part声符shēngfú

㒸

㒸㒸隊duì

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 隊 has 阜 as the meaning part and 㒸 as the sound part.

Appears in

Groups & Organizations 5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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