猎狗 (liè gǒu) — hunting dog, hound

Definition

noun
hunting doghound
Measure word ·

Examples

  • 猎狗
    Tā yǎng le yì zhī liè gǒu, zhuān mén yòng lái dǎ liè.
    He raised a hunting dog, specifically used for hunting.
  • 猎狗
    Zhè zhǒng liè gǒu de xiù jué fēi cháng líng mǐn.
    This kind of hunting dog has a very keen sense of smell.
  • 猎狗
    Liè rén dài zhe liè gǒu zài sēn lín lǐ xún zhǎo liè wù.
    The hunter took the hunting dog into the forest to look for prey.

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.

“猎” indicates hunting and “狗” the animal, so it names a dog used for hunting.

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

In 猎, the left part 犬 means dog and the right part 昔 provides the sound.

Open 猎 →

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
quǎndog
Sound part声符shēngfú
gǒu
Same sound today

狗 combines 犬, meaning dog, with 句, which gives the sound.

Open 狗 →

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