球员 (qiú yuán) — player (of a ball game, especially team sports) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

player (of a ball game, especially team sports)

Measure word · 个

Examples

球员。
Zhè wèi qiú yuán zài bǐ sài zhōng jìn le sān gè qiú.
This player scored three goals in the match.
球员。
Qiú duì de qiú yuán men xùn liàn fēi cháng kè kǔ.
The team's players train very hard.
球员。
Tā shì yì míng zhí yè lán qiú qiú yuán.
He is a professional basketball player.

Origin

Derived word

构词法gòucífǎ

后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

球 gives the ball-sport sense, and 员 gives the sense of member or player.

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

玉玉yùjade

Sound part声符shēngfú

求

求qiú球qiú

Same sound today

球 is built from 玉, meaning jade, and 求, which gives the sound.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 員; 员 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

鼎鼎dǐngding

Sound part声符shēngfú

〇

〇líng員yuán

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

In the traditional form 員, 〇 supplies the sound and 鼎 supplies the meaning; the simplified 员 is a shortened form.

Appears in

Ball Games 5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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