秃鹰 (tū yīng) — bald eagle | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Literally "bald vulture/eagle" — refers specifically to the bald eagle, the national bird of the U.S. Don't confuse with vulture (秃鹫) or golden eagle (金雕).

noun

bald eagle

Measure word · 只

Examples

秃鹰。
Wǒ zài měi guó kàn jiàn le yì zhī tū yīng.
I saw a bald eagle in America.
秃鹰。
tū yīng Shì měi guó de guó niǎo.
The bald eagle is America's national bird.
秃鹰。
Zhè zhǒng tū yīng shēng huó zài gāo shān shàng.
This type of bald eagle lives in high mountains.

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.

秃tūbald

鹰yīngeagle

秃 describes a bare crown and 鹰 is an eagle, so the word names a bird with a bare-looking crown.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 禿; 秃 is its simplified writing.

毛毛máohair
儿儿érperson

The traditional form 禿 puts 毛 (hair) with 儿 (person), showing a person with little or no hair. The simplified 秃 is a later abbreviation, so its parts are not the historical picture.

Open 秃 →

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 鷹; 鹰 is its simplified writing.

䧹鳥鷹

Meaning part形符xíngfú

鳥鳥niǎobird

Sound part声符shēngfú

䧹

䧹䧹鷹yīng

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

The traditional form 鷹 combines 鳥 (bird) with 䧹, which gives the sound.

Open 鹰 →