超长 (chāo cháng) — extra long, very long (in length, time, or distance)

Definition

adjective
extra longvery long (in length, time, or distance)
Easily confused

Examples

  • 超长，。
    Zhè tiáo suì dào shì chāo cháng de, yǒu èr shí gōng lǐ.
    This tunnel is extra long — it's twenty kilometers.
  • 超长，。
    Diàn yǐng shí cháng chāo cháng, jiāng jìn sān gè xiǎo shí.
    The movie is very long, nearly three hours.
  • 超长，。
    Zhè cì háng bān shì chāo cháng fēi xíng, xū yào shí sì gè xiǎo shí.
    This flight is an extra-long flight; it takes fourteen hours.

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.

超chāobeyond the usual
长chánglong

超 means beyond the usual, and 长 means long, so the sense is extra long.

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
走走zǒurun
Sound part声符shēngfú
召
召zhào超chāo
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

超 pairs 走, meaning “run,” with 召, which gives the sound.

Open 超 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 長; 长 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 長 pictures an old man with long hair. The simplified 长 is a later shorthand, so its strokes do not show that original picture.

Open 长 →

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