爬虫 (pá chóng) — reptile | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

reptile

Measure word · 条

爬虫。
pá chóng Shēng huó zài hěn duō bù tóng de dì fāng.
Reptiles live in many different places.
爬虫。
Wǒ zài dòng wù yuán kàn dào hěn duō pá chóng.
I saw many reptiles at the zoo.
爬虫。
Tā xǐ huan yán jiū pá chóng.
He likes to study reptiles.

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.

'爬' gives the idea of crawling, while '虫' denotes a small creature, together naming a crawling reptile.

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.

爪巴爬

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

巴

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

爬 pairs 爪, the part that gives the meaning, with 巴, the part that gives the sound.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 蟲; 虫 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 蟲 is the one the reference discusses; 虫 is also a traditional character on its own.

Appears in