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脚踏车 (jiǎo tà chē) — bicycle (dialectal, chiefly Taiwan)

Definition

A colloquial word for 'bicycle,' mainly used in Taiwan and southern Chinese dialects rather than the standard mainland 自行车.

noun
bicycle (dialectal, chiefly Taiwan)
Measure word · 辆

Examples

  • 脚踏车。
    Wǒ měi tiān qí jiǎo tà chē shàng xià bān.
    I ride my bicycle to and from work every day.
  • 脚踏车，。
    Zhè tái jiǎo tà chē shì tā qù nián mǎi de, bǎo yǎng dé hěn hǎo.
    This bicycle was bought by him last year and is very well maintained.
  • 脚踏车。
    Tái wān hěn duō chéng shì dōu yǒu jiǎo tà chē zhuān yòng dào.
    Many cities in Taiwan have dedicated bicycle lanes.

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.

脚踏foot pedals
脚jiǎofoot踏tàpedal/step
主谓Subject + predicate
车chēvehicle

“脚踏” describes the foot-powered pedaling action, and “车” is the vehicle.

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 腳; 脚 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
⺼Written in full as肉ròumeat, body
Sound part声符shēngfú
卻
卻què腳jiǎo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 腳 uses ⺼ for a body part and 卻 for the sound; the simplified 脚 is a later shorthand.

Open 脚 →

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
足足zúfoot
Sound part声符shēngfú
沓
沓tà踏
Same sound today

踏 has 足 (foot) as its left part to show a foot-related meaning, and 沓 as its right part to give the sound.

Open 踏 →

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 →
Appears in
Vehicles

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