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自行车 (zì xíng chē) — bicycle

Definition

noun
bicycle
Measure word · 辆

Examples

  • 自行车。
    Wǒ měi tiān qí zì xíng chē qù xué xiào.
    I ride my bike to school every day.
  • 自行车。
    Zhè liàng zì xíng chē shì xīn de.
    This bicycle is new.
  • 自行车。
    Wǒ péng you yǒu yí liàng lán zì xíng chē.
    My friend has a blue bicycle.

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.

自行self-moving
自zìself行xíngmove
偏正Modifier + head
车chēvehicle

自 “self”, 行 “move”, and 车 “vehicle” together mean a self-moving vehicle.

Characters in this word

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

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

自 originally drew a nose. It was borrowed purely for its sound to write 自, so the picture and the meaning are unrelated.

Open 自 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 彳彳chì
  • 亍亍chù

The shape of 行 originally showed a street intersection, even on both sides. Later it became uneven, with 彳 on the left and 亍 on the right.

Open 行 →

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
HSK 3.0 Level 3HSK 2.0 Level 2Vehicles5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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