蛙泳 (wā yǒng) — breaststroke | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

breaststroke

Examples

蛙泳。
Wǒ shǔ jià xué huì le wā yǒng.
I learned the breaststroke during summer vacation.
蛙泳。
wā yǒng Shì sì zhǒng zhǔ yào yǒng zī zhī yī.
Breaststroke is one of the four main swimming strokes.
蛙泳。
Jiào liàn jiào wǒ men liàn xí wā yǒng de tuǐ bù dòng zuò.
The coach taught us the leg movements of breaststroke.

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.

泳yǒngswimming

蛙 (frog) describes 泳 (swimming), naming the stroke that mimics a frog.

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.

虫圭蛙

Meaning part形符xíngfú

虫虫chónginsect; creature

Sound part声符shēngfú

圭

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

蛙 is built from 虫 (creature) and 圭, which gives the sound clue.

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

氵永泳

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐ

Sound part声符shēngfú

永

永yǒng泳yǒng

Same sound today

泳 pairs 氵 (water) with 永, which gives the sound. The water part fits the meaning of swimming.

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