胶皮 (jiāo pí) — (regional) vulcanized rubber; rubber-tired rickshaw (abbreviated from 胶皮车)

Definition

Two regional senses: (1) vulcanized rubber, especially the kind used for tires and shoe soles; (2) short for 胶皮车, a rubber-tired rickshaw common in old Beijing/Tianjin.

noun
(regional) vulcanized rubberrubber-tired rickshaw (abbreviated from 胶皮车)

Examples

  • 胶皮。
    Zhè zhǒng jiāo pí de tán xìng fēi cháng hǎo.
    This kind of rubber has very good elasticity.
  • ，胶皮。
    Guò qù, jiē shàng de jiāo pí shì yì zhǒng cháng jiàn de jiāo tōng gōng jù.
    In the past, rickshaws on the street were a common means of transport.
  • 胶皮。
    Zhè zhǒng jiāo pí chē xiàn zài yǐ jīng hěn shǎo jiàn le.
    This type of rubber-tired rickshaw is now rarely seen.

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.

胶jiāorubber
皮pískin/covering

胶 (rubber) and 皮 (skin/covering) refer to rubber material or a rubber-tired rickshaw.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 膠; 胶 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
⺼Written in full as肉ròumeat; flesh
Sound part声符shēngfú
翏
翏liù膠jiāo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 膠 pairs ⺼ (meat; flesh) with 翏, which gives the sound.

Open 胶 →

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

皮 shows a hand pulling fur off an animal pelt, with the pelt drawn at the upper left.

Open 皮 →

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