油灯 (yóu dēng) — oil lamp | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

oil lamp

Measure word · 盏

Examples

油灯。
Nǎi nai de fáng jiān hái fàng zhe yì zhǎn lǎo yóu dēng.
Grandma's room still has an old oil lamp.
，油灯。
Tíng diàn de shí hou, wǒ men zhǐ néng diǎn yóu dēng zhào míng.
When the power goes out, we can only light an oil lamp for illumination.
油灯。
Cóng qián de rén yòng yóu dēng dú shū xiě zì.
People in the old days used oil lamps to read and write.

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 (oil) specifies 灯 (lamp), meaning a lamp burning oil.

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.

火丁灯

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

丁

丁dīng灯dēng

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

灯 pairs 火, which shows fire, with 丁, which gives the sound.

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