跷跷板 (qiāo qiāo bǎn) — seesaw

Definition

noun
seesaw
Measure word ·

Examples

  • 跷跷板
    Hái zi men zài gōng yuán lǐ wán qiāo qiāo bǎn.
    The children are playing on a seesaw in the park.
  • 跷跷板
    Zuò qiāo qiāo bǎn de shí hou yào xiǎo xīn píng héng.
    You need to be careful with balance when sitting on a seesaw.
  • 跷跷板
    Zhè ge qiāo qiāo bǎn shì yòng mù tou zuò de.
    This seesaw is made of wood.

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.

跷跷rocking motion
qiāoraise footqiāoraise foot
联合Coordinate
bǎnboard

跷跷 suggests the rocking motion, and 板 is the board.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 跷 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 跷 →

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
tree
Sound part声符shēngfú
fǎnbǎn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

板 pairs 木 (tree) with 反 as a sound part.

Open 板 →
Appears in

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