病榻 (bìng tà) — sickbed | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

sickbed

Measure word · 张

Examples

病榻。
bìng tà Páng biān fàng zhe yí shù huā.
There is a bouquet of flowers next to the sickbed.
病榻。
Tā zài bìng tà shàng tǎng le sān gè yuè.
He lay on the sickbed for three months.
病榻。
Yī shēng jiàn yì bìng rén duō lí kāi bìng tà huó dòng.
The doctor advised the patient to leave the sickbed more often and move around.

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.

病 means sick and 榻 means bed, together naming a bed for a sick person.

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.

疒丙病

Meaning part形符xíngfú

疒疒nèsickness

Sound part声符shēngfú

丙

丙bǐng病bìng

Same sound today

病 pairs 疒, a sickness mark, with 丙, which gives the sound; 丙 also means fire, giving a picture of lying feverishly in bed.

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

木𦐇榻

Meaning part形符xíngfú

木木mùwood

Sound part声符shēngfú

𦐇

𦐇𦐇榻tà

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

榻 combines 木 (wood) with 𦐇, which gives its sound.

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