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潜水员 (qián shuǐ yuán) — diver (person who dives underwater for work or sport)

Definition

noun
diver (person who dives underwater for work or sport)
Measure word · 名

Examples

  • 潜水员。
    Nà wèi qián shuǐ yuán zhèng zài jiǎn chá hǎi dǐ de guǎn dào.
    That diver is inspecting the underwater pipeline.
  • 潜水员，。
    Tā dāng le shí nián de qián shuǐ yuán, jīng yàn fēi cháng fēng fù.
    He has been a diver for ten years and is very experienced.
  • 潜水员。
    Yì sōu chén chuán fù jìn chū xiàn le duō míng qián shuǐ yuán.
    Several divers appeared near a sunken ship.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

潜水dive in water
潜qiándive水shuǐwater
动宾Verb + object
员yuánperson/member

潜水 means to dive in water, and 员 points to a person, so the word names someone who dives.

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 潛; 潜 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
水水shuǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
朁
朁cǎn潛qián
Same sound today

The form 潛 has 水 as a meaning part and 朁 as a sound part; this note is about 潛, not the simplified 潜.

Open 潜 →

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

水 is a simple drawing of water flowing.

Open 水 →

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 員; 员 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
鼎鼎dǐngding
Sound part声符shēngfú
〇
〇líng員yuán
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 員, 〇 supplies the sound and 鼎 supplies the meaning; the simplified 员 is a shortened form.

Open 员 →
Appears in
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