膝 (xī) — (bound form) knee (used in compounds like 膝盖, 膝…

Definition

A bound morpheme meaning 'knee' — it almost never stands alone and appears in compounds like 膝盖 (knee) and 膝关节 (knee joint).

bound form

knee (used in compounds like 膝盖, 膝关节)

。
Tā pǎo bù de shí hou shāng le xī gài.
He hurt his knee while running.
。
Yī shēng zǐ xì jiǎn chá le tā de xī guān jié.
The doctor carefully examined his knee joint.
。
xī Gài téng tòng ràng tā zǒu lù hěn kùn nan.
Knee pain made it hard for him to walk.

Sound + meaning

六书liùshū

形声xíngshēng

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ròumeat, body

Sound part声符shēngfú

桼

桼qī膝xī

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

In 膝, ⺼ is the body form of 肉, marking a body part, and 桼 gives the sound.

Appears in