左膝 (zuǒ xī) — left knee | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

left knee

Examples

左膝。
Dǎ lán qiú shí tā shāng le zuǒ xī.
He hurt his left knee when playing basketball.
左膝。
Yī shēng jiǎn chá le wǒ de zuǒ xī.
The doctor examined my left knee.
左膝。
Wǒ zuì jìn zuǒ xī yì zhí téng.
My left knee has been hurting lately.

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.

The left sense of 左 and the knee sense of 膝 combine to name the knee on the left side.

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.

𠂇工左

Meaning part形符xíngfú

工工gōngwork

Sound part声符shēngfú

𠂇

𠂇𠂇左zuǒ

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

左 grew from the picture 𠂇, a left hand, with 工 (work) added later.

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

⺼Written in full as肉ròumeat, body

Sound part声符shēngfú

桼

桼qī膝xī

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 膝, ⺼ is the body form of 肉, marking a body part, and 桼 gives the sound.

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