行车道 (xíng chē dào) — driveway (private road to a house or building); traffic lane (part of a road for vehicles)

Definition

行车道 covers both a private driveway leading to a building and a marked traffic lane on a public road. The exact meaning comes from context — context (like an expressway vs. a villa) decides which sense is meant.

noun
driveway (private road to a house or building)traffic lane (part of a road for vehicles)
Measure word · 条

Examples

  • 行车道，。
    Zhè dòng bié shù de xíng chē dào hěn kuān, kě yǐ tíng liǎng liàng chē.
    The driveway of this villa is very wide and can park two cars.
  • 行车道。
    Gāo sù gōng lù shàng de měi tiáo xíng chē dào dōu yǒu míng què de xiàn sù biāo zhì.
    Each traffic lane on the expressway has clear speed limit signs.
  • ，行车道。
    Shī gōng qī jiān, zuǒ cè xíng chē dào zàn shí fēng bì.
    During construction, the left lane is temporarily closed.

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.

行车vehicle movement
行xíngdrive车chēvehicle
动宾Verb + object
道dàoroad

行车 suggests vehicles moving, and 道 names the road meant for them.

Characters in this word

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 →

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
行行xíngstreet
止止zhǐfoot
Sound part声符shēngfú
𩠐
首shǒu道dào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

Early 道 showed a street 行, a foot 止, and a part written 首 or 𩠐; the right part of 行 later disappeared.

Open 道 →

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