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蜡笔 (là bǐ) — crayon (colored drawing stick)

Definition

noun
crayon (colored drawing stick)
Measure word · 支

Examples

  • 蜡笔。
    Hái zi men yòng là bǐ zài zhǐ shàng huà le yì zhī xiǎo māo.
    The children drew a little cat on the paper with crayons.
  • ，蜡笔。
    Měi shù kè shàng, lǎo shī ràng wǒ men dài yì hé là bǐ.
    In art class, the teacher asked us to bring a box of crayons.
  • 蜡笔，。
    Zhè zhǒng là bǐ yán sè hěn xiān yàn, shì hé huà fēng jǐng.
    This kind of crayon has very bright colors, suitable for painting landscapes.

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.

蜡làwax
笔bǐpen

蜡 gives the wax material, and 笔 the stick-like form, together naming a colored crayon.

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 蠟; 蜡 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
虫虫chónginsect
Sound part声符shēngfú
巤
巤liè蠟là
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 蠟 has 虫 (insect) and 巤 (sound); the simplified 蜡 is a shorthand.

Open 蜡 →

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 筆; 笔 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
竹竹zhúbamboo
Sound part声符shēngfú
聿
聿yù筆bǐ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The simplified 笔 is based on the traditional form 筆, which puts 竹 (bamboo) beside 聿 (writing brush). 聿 already meant the brush and supplied the sound; 竹 was added later to show it was made of bamboo.

Open 笔 →
Appears in
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