短工 (duǎn gōng) — short-term or seasonal labor; short-term laborer (especially in agriculture)

Definition

短工 refers to the short-term job itself or the person doing it — typically casual farm or seasonal work. Pair with 做 to mean 'do a stint of short-term labor'.

noun
short-term or seasonal laborshort-term laborer (especially in agriculture)

Examples

  • ，短工。
    Nóng máng de shí hou, tā cháng qù tián lǐ zuò duǎn gōng.
    During the busy farming season, he often goes to do short-term labor in the fields.
  • 短工，。
    Cūn lǐ lái le jǐ gè duǎn gōng, bāng máng shōu mài zi.
    Several short-term laborers came to the village to help harvest the wheat.
  • 短工，。
    Zhè fèn duǎn gōng zhī gān sān tiān, dàn gōng zī hěn gāo.
    This short-term labor job lasts only three days, but the pay is good.

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.

短duǎnshort
工gōngwork

Short-term work or worker; 短 means short and 工 means work.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
矢矢shǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
豆
豆dòu短duǎn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

短 is built from 矢 and 豆. 豆 is used for its sound, while 矢 is the component linked to the meaning.

Open 短 →

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

The shape of 工 is a picture of a bladed tool used to plow ground or mark a border; some read it as a carpenter's square.

Open 工 →

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