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广告牌 (guǎng gào pái) — billboard; advertising sign

Definition

noun
billboardadvertising sign
Measure word · 块

Examples

  • 广告牌。
    Gāo sù gōng lù liǎng páng yǒu hěn duō guǎng gào pái.
    There are many billboards along both sides of the highway.
  • 广告牌。
    Gōng sī huā le jù zī zū xià zhè ge guǎng gào pái.
    The company spent a huge amount of money to rent this billboard.
  • 广告牌。
    Zhè ge guǎng gào pái de shè jì fēi cháng xī yǐn rén.
    The design of this billboard is very attractive.

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.

广告advertisement
广guǎngbroad告gàoannounce
偏正Modifier + head
牌páiboard

广 means broad, 告 means announce, and 牌 means board; together they form an advertising board.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 廣; 广 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
广广guǎng
Sound part声符shēngfú
黃
黃huáng廣guǎng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 廣 combines 广 (meaning part) with 黃 (sound part); the simplified 广 is a later shorthand, not the full historical shape.

Open 广 →

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

The origin is unclear: one theory sees 告 as 壴 (a decorated drum) above 口 (an open mouth), while another sees a tongue sticking out of 口.

Open 告 →

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
片片piàn
Sound part声符shēngfú
卑
卑bēi牌pái
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

牌 puts 片, a flat piece, beside 卑, which gives the sound.

Open 牌 →
Appears in
Marketing & Sales

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