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床垫 (chuáng diàn) — mattress

Definition

noun
mattress
Measure word · 张

Examples

  • 床垫。
    Wǒ mǎi le yí gè xīn chuáng diàn.
    I bought a new mattress.
  • 床垫。
    Zhè ge chuáng diàn tài ruǎn le.
    This mattress is too soft.
  • 床垫？
    Nǐ jiā de chuáng diàn shū fu ma?
    Is your mattress comfortable?

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.

床chuángbed
垫diànpad

床 bed and 垫 pad combine for a pad placed on a bed.

Characters in this word

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

The 床 shape combines 广, a house, and 木, tree, to show a wooden bed inside a house.

Open 床 →

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 墊; 垫 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
土土tǔearth
Sound part声符shēngfú
執
執zhí墊diàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 墊 pairs 土, showing earth, with 執, providing the sound; this is about 墊, not the simplified 垫.

Open 垫 →
Appears in
Furniture

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