画像 (huà xiàng) — portrait | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

portrait

Measure word · 张

Examples

画像。
Zhè fú huà xiàng huà dé hěn hǎo.
This portrait is painted very well.
画像。
Qiáng shàng guà zhe yì fú zǔ xiān de huà xiàng.
An ancestor portrait hangs on the wall.
画像。
Bó wù guǎn lǐ zhǎn chū le hěn duō lì shǐ rén wù de huà xiàng.
The museum is exhibiting many portraits of historical figures.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

像xiànglikeness

The sense of 画 as drawing and 像 as likeness gives a portrait.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 畫; 画 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

聿聿yùbrush

Sound part声符shēngfú

規

規guī畫huà

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

The traditional form 畫 pairs 聿, a brush, with 規 for its sound. The simplified 画 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the old parts.

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

亻象像

Meaning part形符xíngfú

亻Written in full as人rénperson

Sound part声符shēngfú

象

Same sound today

像 uses 亻, the side form of 人 (person), with 象 giving the sound.

Appears in

Art & Fine Arts

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