棕熊 (zōng xióng) — brown bear | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

brown bear

Measure word · 只

Examples

棕熊。
Wǒ zài dòng wù yuán kàn dào le yì zhī zōng xióng.
I saw a brown bear at the zoo.
棕熊。
zōng xióng Shì yì zhǒng dà xíng dòng wù.
The brown bear is a large animal.
棕熊。
Nà zhī zōng xióng zhèng zài hé biān zhuā yú.
That brown bear is catching fish by the river.

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.

棕 gives the brown color, and 熊 names the bear.

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

木木mùwood

Sound part声符shēngfú

㚇

㚇㚇棕zōng

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

棕 is built from 木 (wood) and 宗, which gives the sound.

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

能能néngbear

Sound part声符shēngfú

炎

炎yán熊xióng

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

熊 is made of 能 and 炎. It originally represented a word for raging flame; when 能 was borrowed for another word, 熊 came to write 'bear'.

Appears in

Animals & Mammals

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