彩笔 (cǎi bǐ) — colored pen, marker, or crayon (used for drawing and coloring)

Definition

noun
colored penmarkeror crayon (used for drawing and coloring)
Measure word · 支

Examples

  • 彩笔。
    Wǒ mǎi le yì hé xīn cǎi bǐ.
    I bought a new box of colored pens.
  • 彩笔。
    Mèi mei yòng cǎi bǐ huà le yì zhī xiǎo māo.
    My little sister drew a kitten with colored pens.
  • 彩笔。
    Zhè xiē cǎi bǐ de yán sè hěn xiān yàn.
    The colors of these markers are very bright.

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.

彩cǎicolor
笔bǐpen

彩 means color and 笔 means pen, together giving a colored pen.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
彡彡shān
Sound part声符shēngfú
采
采cǎi彩cǎi
Same sound today

彩 puts 采, which gives the sound, next to 彡, the three-stroke mark that carries the meaning.

Open 彩 →

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 筆; 笔 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
竹竹zhúbamboo
Sound part声符shēngfú
聿
聿yù筆bǐ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The simplified 笔 is based on the traditional form 筆, which puts 竹 (bamboo) beside 聿 (writing brush). 聿 already meant the brush and supplied the sound; 竹 was added later to show it was made of bamboo.

Open 笔 →

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