油桶 (yóu tǒng) — oil drum | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

oil drum

Measure word · 个

Examples

油桶。
Cāng kù lǐ yǒu liǎng gè dà yóu tǒng.
There are two large oil drums in the warehouse.
油桶。
Gōng rén bǎ yóu tǒng bān shàng le kǎ chē.
The workers loaded the oil drum onto the truck.
油桶。
Zhè ge yóu tǒng néng zhuāng yì bǎi shēng yóu.
This oil drum can hold one hundred liters of oil.

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.

油 is oil and 桶 is a barrel, together an oil container.

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.

氵由油

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

由

由yóu油yóu

Same sound today

油 is built from 氵, a water part, and 由, which supplies the sound.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

木甬桶

Meaning part形符xíngfú

木木mùwood

Sound part声符shēngfú

甬

甬yǒng桶tǒng

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

The left part 木 shows wood, and the right part 甬 gives the sound.

Appears in

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