篷车 (péng chē) — covered truck, van; caravan (mobile home)

Definition

篷车 is a vehicle with a canvas or soft covering — lighter and more informal than a 卡车 or 货车, and often refers to a covered van or a caravan-style mobile home.

noun
covered truckvancaravan (mobile home)
Measure word · 辆

Examples

  • 篷车。
    Nà liàng péng chē lǐ zhuāng mǎn le huò wù.
    That covered truck is full of goods.
  • 篷车。
    Tā men kāi zhe yí liàng péng chē qù lǚ xíng.
    They drove a van to go traveling.
  • 篷车。
    Zhè liàng péng chē kě yǐ zhù sì gè rén.
    This caravan can accommodate four people.

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.

篷péngcover
车chēvehicle

篷 gives the cover, 车 the vehicle: a vehicle with a cover.

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
竹竹zhúbamboo
Sound part声符shēngfú
逢
逢féng篷péng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

篷 pairs 竹 (bamboo) with 逢. The 竹 part connects the meaning to bamboo, and 逢 gives the sound.

Open 篷 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 車; 车 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 車 was drawn as a carriage seen from above, with wheels on both sides and a shaft at the front; the simplified 车 is a later shorthand.

Open 车 →

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