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打转 (dǎ zhuàn) — to spin, to rotate, to revolve

Definition

打转 (dǎ zhuàn) means to spin or rotate in place — a wheel stuck in mud, a top, or a dizzy person's vision. It focuses on circular motion in one spot, not movement along a path.

verb
to spinto rotateto revolve

Examples

  • 打转。
    Tuó luó zài zhuō zi shàng bù tíng dì dǎ zhuàn.
    The top is spinning nonstop on the table.
  • ，打转。
    Tā tóu yūn dé lì hài, yǎn qián de yí qiè dōu zài dǎ zhuàn.
    He felt so dizzy that everything in front of him was spinning.
  • 打转，。
    Chē lún zài ní dì lǐ dǎ zhuàn, zěn me yě kāi bù zǒu.
    The wheels were spinning in the mud and couldn't drive away.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

打dǎdo
转zhuǎnturn

打 (do) + 转 (turn) describes doing a turn.

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
扌Written in full as手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng打dǎ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

打 uses 扌, a hand, to show an action done with the hand, and 丁 to give the sound.

Open 打 →

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 轉; 转 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
車車jūcarriage
Sound part声符shēngfú
專
專zhuān轉zhuǎn
Same sound today

The traditional form 轉 combines 車, a carriage, with 專 as a sound part; the simplified 转 is a later shorthand.

Open 转 →
Appears in
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