牛郎 (Niú láng) — (legendary figure) the Cowherd from the '牛郎织女'… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Proper name: the Cowherd from the 牛郎织女 love story, the focus of 七夕. The literal sense 'cattle herder' is rare in modern use.

noun

(legendary figure) the Cowherd from the '牛郎织女' folk tale(literal) cowherdcattle herder

Measure word · 个

Examples

，牛郎。
Měi nián qī xī, Niú láng hé zhī nǚ huì zài què qiáo xiāng huì.
Every year on Qixi (Chinese Valentine's Day), the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meet on the Magpie Bridge.
牛郎。
Zhè ge gù shi jiǎng de shì Niú láng hé zhī nǚ de ài qíng.
This story is about the love between the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl.
，牛郎。
Zài gǔ dài, Niú láng měi tiān dōu yào qù shān shàng fàng niú.
In ancient times, the cowherd had to go to the mountains every day to graze cattle.

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.

“牛” names the cattle and “郎” the man who tends them.

Characters in this word

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

牛 is drawn as a bull's head, with two horns and two ears.

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

邑邑yìcounty; town

Sound part声符shēngfú

良

良liáng郎láng

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

郎 combines 良, which gives the sound, with 邑, meaning county or town.

Appears in

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