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救护车 (jiù hù chē) — ambulance

Definition

noun
ambulance
Measure word · 辆

Examples

  • 救护车！
    Kuài dǎ diàn huà jiào yí liàng jiù hù chē!
    Quick, call an ambulance!
  • 救护车。
    jiù hù chē De jǐng dí shēng hěn yuǎn jiù néng tīng dào.
    The siren of an ambulance can be heard from far away.
  • 救护车。
    Shòu shāng de rén bèi jiù hù chē sòng qù le yī yuàn.
    The injured person was taken to the hospital by an ambulance.

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.

救护rescue
救jiùsave护hùprotect
联合Coordinate
车chēvehicle

救 and 护 give rescue and protection, and 车 gives a vehicle, together meaning an ambulance.

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
攴攴pū
Sound part声符shēngfú
求
求qiú救jiù
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 救, 求 gives the sound, and 攴 is the action part.

Open 救 →

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
户
户hù护hù
Same sound today

护 combines 扌 (the hand form 手) with 户, which gives the sound hù.

Open 护 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 車; 车 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 車 was drawn as a carriage seen from above, with wheels on both sides and a shaft at the front; the simplified 车 is a later shorthand.

Open 车 →
Appears in
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