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越野车 (yuè yě chē) — off-road vehicle

Definition

noun
off-road vehicle
Measure word · 辆

Examples

  • 越野车。
    Tā kāi zhe yí liàng yuè yě chē zài shā mò lǐ lǚ xíng.
    He drove an off-road vehicle traveling through the desert.
  • 越野车，。
    Zhè liàng yuè yě chē de xìng néng hěn hǎo, shì hé shān lù.
    This off-road vehicle has great performance and is suitable for mountain roads.
  • 越野车，。
    Wǒ xǐ huan yuè yě chē, yīn wèi tā kě yǐ dào hěn duō dì fāng.
    I like off-road vehicles because they can go to many places.

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.

越野cross country
越yuècross野yěopen country
动宾Verb + object
车chēvehicle

越野 means crossing open country, and 车 names the vehicle, together giving an off-road vehicle.

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zǒuto walk or run
Sound part声符shēngfú
戉
戉yuè越yuè
Same sound today

越 is built from 走 (to walk or run) and 戉 (which supplies the sound); the 走 part shows the idea of going over or crossing.

Open 越 →

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
田田tiánfield
土土tǔearth
Sound part声符shēngfú
予
予yǔ野yě
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

野 combines 田 (field) above 土 (earth) to show open country, with 予 giving the sound.

Open 野 →

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 →
Appears in
Vehicles

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