牲口 (shēng kou) — draft animal; beast of burden

Definition

noun
draft animalbeast of burden
Measure word ·

Examples

  • 牲口
    Nóng mín yòng shēng kou lái gēng dì.
    Farmers use draft animals to plow the fields.
  • 牲口
    Zhè xiē shēng kou měi tiān dōu xū yào chī hěn duō cǎo.
    These draft animals need to eat a lot of grass every day.
  • 牲口
    Tā gǎn zhe shēng kou shàng le shān lù.
    He drove the draft animals up the mountain path.

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.

shēnglivestock

牲 names livestock, and 口 adds the idea of a unit, giving draft animals.

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
niúcow
Sound part声符shēngfú
shēngshēng
Same sound today

牲 pairs 牛, meaning cow, with 生 as its sound part.

Open 牲 →

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

The form 口 looks like an open mouth.

Open 口 →

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