手指画 (shǒu zhǐ huà) — finger painting

Definition

Painting done with the fingers instead of brushes — common in children's art and kindergarten activities.

noun
finger painting
Measure word · 幅

Examples

  • ——手指画。
    Wǒ zuì jìn xué le yì zhǒng xīn de yì shù xíng shì —— shǒu zhǐ huà.
    I recently learned a new art form—finger painting.
  • 手指画。
    Zhè fú shǒu zhǐ huà sè cǎi fēi cháng xiān yàn.
    This finger painting has very bright colors.
  • 手指画。
    Hái zi men zài yòu ér yuán yòng shǒu zhǐ huà biǎo dá xiǎng xiàng lì.
    The children use finger painting to express their imagination in kindergarten.

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.

手指finger
手shǒuhand指zhǐfinger
偏正Modifier + head
画huàpicture

The 手 and 指 give 'finger of the hand', and 画 is a picture made with the fingers.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

手 draws a five-fingered human hand: the top line is a bent middle finger, and the horizontal lines show the other four fingers.

Open 手 →

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
扌Written in full as手shǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
旨
旨zhǐ指zhǐ
Same sound today

The left part 扌 is the hand form 手. The right part 旨 gives the sound.

Open 指 →

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 畫; 画 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
聿聿yùbrush
Sound part声符shēngfú
規
規guī畫huà
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 畫 pairs 聿, a brush, with 規 for its sound. The simplified 画 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the old parts.

Open 画 →

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