钟塔 (zhōng da) — bell tower | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

bell tower

Measure word · 座

Examples

钟塔。
Jiào táng páng biān yǒu yí zuò gǔ lǎo de zhōng da.
There is an ancient bell tower next to the church.
钟塔。
Cóng zhōng da shàng kě yǐ kàn jiàn zhěng gè chéng shì.
From the bell tower you can see the whole city.
钟塔。
Zhè zuò zhōng da yǐ jīng yǒu wǔ bǎi nián de lì shǐ le.
This bell tower has a history of five hundred years.

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.

钟 “bell” and 塔 “tower” give the sense of a bell tower.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

土荅塔

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

荅

荅dá塔tǎ

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

塔 shows 土 (earth) for the meaning and 荅 (dá) for the sound.

Appears in

Buildings & Structures

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