房前 (fáng qián) — area in front of a house | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

area in front of a house

Examples

房前。
fáng qián Yǒu yì kē dà shù.
There is a big tree in front of the house.
房前。
Tā zài fáng qián zhǒng le hěn duō huā.
He planted many flowers in front of the house.
房前。
fáng qián De lù hěn kuān.
The road in front of the house is very wide.

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 character for house specifies the front area being referred to.

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

戶戶hùdoor

Sound part声符shēngfú

方

方fāng房fáng

Same sound today

房 pairs 戶 (door) with 方 (fāng) as a sound part; 方 can also fit 'side,' as in a side room beside the main room.

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

止止zhǐfoot
舟舟zhōuboat

In the older form of 前, 止 (foot) and 舟 (boat) showed a foot on a boat moving forward; in the current 前 those parts are shortened.

Appears in

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