白天鹅 (bái tiān é) — white swan (bird, esp. whooper swan, Cygnus cyg…

Definition

noun

white swan (bird, esp. whooper swan, Cygnus cygnus)

Measure word · 只

白天鹅。
Wǒ zài gōng yuán de hú shàng kàn dào yì zhī bái tiān é.
I saw a white swan on the lake in the park.
白天鹅。
bái tiān é Shì yì zhǒng fēi cháng yōu yǎ de niǎo lèi.
The white swan is a very elegant bird species.
白天鹅。
Měi nián dōng tiān dōu yǒu dà liàng bái tiān é lái zhè lǐ guò dōng.
Every winter large numbers of white swans come here to spend the winter.

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.

天鹅swan

偏正Modifier + head

白 gives the color, and 天鹅 names the swan.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

白 is thought to picture either an acorn or a human head.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

丁

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

The shape comes from a frontal standing man 大 with a head; 天 pairs 大 with 丁 for 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 鵝; 鹅 is its simplified writing.

我鳥鵝

Meaning part形符xíngfú

鳥鳥niǎo

Sound part声符shēngfú

我

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 鵝, 鳥 shows it is a bird and 我 gives the sound; the simplified 鹅 is a later shorthand, not the historical shape.