胎动 (tāi dòng) — fetal movement (quickening); uterine contractio… | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

fetal movement (quickening)uterine contractions

Examples

胎动，。
Tā dì yī cì gǎn jué dào tāi dòng de shí hou, fēi cháng jī dòng.
She was very excited when she first felt fetal movement.
胎动。
Yī shēng ràng tā měi tiān shù tāi dòng de cì shù.
The doctor told her to count the number of fetal movements every day.
胎动。
tāi dòng Shì tāi ér jiàn kāng de biāo zhì zhī yī.
Fetal movement is one of the signs of a healthy fetus.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

胎 is the fetus and 动 is movement, so the word pictures the fetus moving.

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

⺼Written in full as肉ròu

Sound part声符shēngfú

台

台tái胎tāi

Same sound today

胎 is formed from ⺼ (written in full as 肉) and 台, which gives the sound.

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 動; 动 is its simplified writing.

重力動

Meaning part形符xíngfú

力力lìstrength

Sound part声符shēngfú

重

重zhòng動dòng

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 動 uses 力 (strength) and 重 as a sound part; 重 refers to a heavy bag ready to be moved by a human. This note is about 動, not 动.

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