通风井 (tōng fēng jǐng) — ventilation shaft; air shaft | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

ventilation shaftair shaft

Measure word · 个

Examples

通风井。
Zhè ge dà lóu de tōng fēng jǐng shè jì dé hěn hǎo.
The ventilation shaft of this building is well designed.
通风井。
Gōng rén men zhèng zài xiū lǐ tōng fēng jǐng.
The workers are repairing the ventilation shaft.
通风井。
tōng fēng jǐng Lǐ yǒu hěn duō huī chén.
There is a lot of dust in the air shaft.

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.

通风ventilate

通tōnglet through风fēngair

动宾Verb + object

通风 describes moving air, and 井 names the shaft.

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.

辶甬通

Meaning part形符xíngfú

辶Written in full as辵chuò

Sound part声符shēngfú

甬

甬yǒng通tōng

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

通 pairs 辶, a part associated with movement, with 甬, which gives the sound.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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

The shape of 井 draws a square well with supports on four sides.

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