灯柱 (dēng zhù) — lamppost

Definition

noun
lamppost
Measure word ·

Examples

  • 灯柱
    Jiē dào liǎng páng de dēng zhù zài yè wǎn zhào liàng le xíng rén.
    The lampposts on both sides of the street illuminated pedestrians at night.
  • 灯柱
    Zhè zhǎn dēng zhù de dēng guāng yǒu xiē àn, xū yào huàn dēng pào le.
    The light of this lamppost is a bit dim; the bulb needs to be changed.
  • 灯柱
    Dōng tiān de shí hou, dēng zhù shàng jīng cháng guà zhe bīng zhù.
    In winter, icicles often hang from lampposts.

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.

zhùpillar

“灯” names the lamp and “柱” the upright post, forming a lamppost.

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
Sound part声符shēngfú
dīngdēng
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.

Open 灯 →

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
wood
Sound part声符shēngfú
zhǔzhù
Same sound today

The left part 木 shows that 柱 is connected with wood. The right part 主 gives the pronunciation.

Open 柱 →
Appears in

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