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瓶颈 (píng jǐng) — (literal) neck of a bottle; (figurative) bottleneck, obstacle that hinders progress

Definition

Literal 'neck of a bottle'; figuratively, a bottleneck — a point in a process that limits overall progress. Compared with 咽喉, 瓶颈 is more concrete and used for technical or operational obstacles.

noun
(literal) neck of a bottle(figurative) bottleneckobstacle that hinders progress
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 瓶颈。
    Zhè ge píng zi de píng jǐng hěn zhǎi.
    The neck of this bottle is very narrow.
  • 瓶颈。
    Gōng sī de yè wù zēng zhǎng yù dào le píng jǐng.
    The company's business growth has hit a bottleneck.
  • 瓶颈。
    Wǒ men yào xiǎng bàn fǎ tū pò jì shù píng jǐng.
    We need to find a way to break through the technical bottleneck.

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.

瓶píngbottle
颈jǐngneck

瓶 (bottle) and 颈 (neck) form the narrow neck of a bottle, extended to a blocking point.

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
瓦瓦wǎearthenware
Sound part声符shēngfú
并
并bìng瓶píng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

瓶 uses 瓦 to show an earthenware vessel and 并 for the sound. The original vessel had a long slender neck and narrow mouth.

Open 瓶 →

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 頸; 颈 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yèhead
Sound part声符shēngfú
巠
巠jīng頸gěng
Same sound today

The traditional form 頸 uses 頁, head, to show the meaning, and 巠 to give the sound; the simplified 颈 is a later shorthand.

Open 颈 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Abstract Concepts

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