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楼梯 (lóu tī) — stairs; staircase

Definition

楼梯 (lóutī) means the staircase itself — the whole set of steps inside a building. Use 楼 for the building; 阶梯 is a more formal, written word for a flight of steps.

noun
stairsstaircase
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 楼梯。
    Zhè ge lóu tī hěn gān jìng.
    This staircase is very clean.
  • 楼梯。
    Wǒ měi tiān zǒu lóu tī shàng xué.
    I take the stairs to school every day.
  • 楼梯。
    Zhè ge lóu tī yǒu shí wǔ bù.
    This staircase has fifteen steps.

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.

楼lóubuilding
梯tīladder

楼 means building and 梯 means ladder; a ladder inside a building becomes stairs.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 樓; 楼 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mùtree
Sound part声符shēngfú
婁
婁lóu樓lóu
Same sound today

The traditional form 樓 pairs 木 (tree) with 婁 as its sound part; the simplified 楼 is a later shorthand.

Open 楼 →

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, tree
Sound part声符shēngfú
弟
弟dì梯tī
Same sound today

梯 puts 木 (wood/tree) beside 弟, which gives the sound, to write a wooden ladder.

Open 梯 →
Appears in
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