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车流 (chē liú) — traffic flow; the rate of traffic flow

Definition

noun
traffic flowthe rate of traffic flow

Examples

  • 车流。
    Chéng shì lǐ de chē liú yuè lái yuè duō le.
    Traffic in the city is getting heavier.
  • ，车流。
    Zǎo wǎn gāo fēng shí, chē liú liú dòng dé hěn màn.
    During peak hours, traffic flows very slowly.
  • ，车流。
    Zhè tiáo xīn lù kāi tōng hòu, chē liú míng xiǎn gǎi shàn le.
    After this new road opened, traffic flow improved significantly.

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.

车chēvehicle
流liúflow

车 means vehicles and 流 means flow, so the word pictures a stream of vehicles.

Characters in this word

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
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
㐬
㐬㐬流liú
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

流 has 水, water, and 㐬, which gives the sound. The water part matches meanings such as flow.

Open 流 →
Appears in
Roads & Traffic

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