救生衣 (jiù shēng yī) — life jacket | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

life jacket

Measure word · 件

救生衣。
Shàng chuán qián qǐng chuān shàng jiù shēng yī.
Please put on a life jacket before boarding the boat.
救生衣。
Měi gè zuò wèi xià miàn dōu yǒu yí jiàn jiù shēng yī.
There is a life jacket under every seat.
救生衣。
Chéng wù yuán jiào wǒ men zěn me shǐ yòng jiù shēng yī.
The flight attendant taught us how to use the life jacket.

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.

救生save life

动宾Verb + object

衣yīclothing

“救生” means saving life and “衣” means a garment, so it is a garment used to save lives.

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

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.

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

生 shows 屮 (a bud) above 一 (the ground), drawing a sprout coming up from the earth.

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

The shape of 衣 comes from an outline of the chest and upper clothing.

Appears in