百日咳 (bǎi rì ké) — whooping cough, pertussis

Definition

noun

whooping coughpertussis

百日咳，。
Hái zi dé le bǎi rì ké, xū yào jí shí zhì liáo.
The child has whooping cough and needs timely treatment.
百日咳。
bǎi rì ké Shì yì zhǒng tōng guò kōng qì chuán bō de chuán rǎn xìng jí bìng.
Whooping cough is an infectious disease transmitted through the air.
百日咳。
Jiē zhòng yì miáo kě yǐ yǒu xiào yù fáng bǎi rì ké.
Vaccination can effectively prevent whooping cough.

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.

百日hundred days

偏正Modifier + head

百 and 日 give 'hundred days', and 咳 gives 'cough', naming a cough lasting a long course.

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.

一白百

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

白

Same sound today

百 combines 一, which carries the number meaning, with 白, which provides the sound.

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

日 originally drew the sun. A mark was added inside to tell it apart from similar square shapes.

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

口亥咳

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

亥

Same sound today

咳 combines 口, which points to the mouth or a sound made with it, and 亥, which gives the character its sound.