赛璐珞 (sài lù luò) — celluloid | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

赛璐珞 (sài lù luò) is the transliteration of 'celluloid,' an early plastic once used for film, combs, and ping-pong balls — now mostly of historical interest.

noun

celluloid

Measure word · 块

Examples

赛璐珞。
Zhè zhǒng sài lù luò cái liào céng jīng yòng lái zhì zuò pīng pāng qiú.
This kind of celluloid material was once used to make table tennis balls.
赛璐珞。
Zǎo qī diàn yǐng jiāo piàn shì yòng sài lù luò zhì chéng de.
Early movie film was made from celluloid.
赛璐珞。
Zhè ge fù gǔ shū zi shì yòng sài lù luò zuò de.
This vintage comb is made of celluloid.

Origin

Single-morpheme word

构词法gòucífǎ

音译yīnyìTransliteration

The characters spell the sound of a foreign word; their individual meanings play no part.

珞luò

赛璐珞 spells celluloid; 赛, 璐, and 珞 carry no independent meaning here.

Sound-only characters

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 賽; 赛 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

貝貝bèishell

Sound part声符shēngfú

塞

塞sāi賽sài

Same sound today

The traditional form 賽 uses 貝 (shell) for meaning and 塞 for sound. The simplified 赛 is a later shorthand.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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

王各珞

Meaning part形符xíngfú

王王wángjade

Sound part声符shēngfú

各

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

珞 pairs 王 (jade) with 各, and 各 supplies the sound.

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