白杨树 (bái yáng shù) — poplar tree

Definition

noun
poplar tree
Measure word · 棵

Examples

  • 白杨树，。
    Zhè kē bái yáng shù hěn gāo, yǒu èr shí duō mǐ.
    This poplar tree is very tall, over twenty meters.
  • ，白杨树。
    Qiū tiān de shí hou, bái yáng shù de yè zi biàn huáng le.
    In autumn, the poplar's leaves turn yellow.
  • ，白杨树。
    Zài běi fāng, rén men jīng cháng zài lù biān zhǒng bái yáng shù.
    In the north, people often plant poplars by the roadside.

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.

白杨white poplar
白báiwhite杨yángpoplar
偏正Modifier + head
树shùtree

白杨 names the poplar, and 树 marks it as a tree.

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.

Open 白 →

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 楊; 杨 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mùtree, wood
Sound part声符shēngfú
昜
昜yáng楊yáng
Same sound today

The traditional form 楊 pairs 木 (tree, wood) with 昜, which gives the sound. The simplified 杨 is a later shorthand, so its right side is not the old sound part.

Open 杨 →

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 樹; 树 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mùtree
Sound part声符shēngfú
尌
尌shù樹shù
Same sound today

Originally 尌, 'to plant a tree', was written alone; the traditional form 樹 adds 木, 'tree', to it to differentiate.

Open 树 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.