船帆 (chuán fān) — sail | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

sail

Measure word · 面

Examples

船帆。
Fēng bǎ chuán fān chuī dé gǔ gǔ de.
The wind blew the sail full.
船帆。
Yuǎn chù yǒu yì sōu guà zhe bái sè chuán fān de xiǎo chuán.
In the distance there is a small boat with white sails.
船帆。
Lǎo shuǐ shǒu zhèng zài xiū bǔ pò sǔn de chuán fān.
The old sailor is repairing the damaged sail.

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.

船 (ship) and 帆 (sail) combine to mean a sail on a ship.

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

舟舟zhōuboat

Sound part声符shēngfú

㕣

㕣㕣船

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

船 pairs 舟 (boat) with 㕣 for its sound.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

巾凡帆

Meaning part形符xíngfú

巾巾jīncloth

Sound part声符shēngfú

凡

凡fán帆fān

Same sound today

帆 pairs 巾 (cloth) with 凡, which gives the sound fán.

Appears in

Boats & Water Travel

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