铁路桥 (tiě lù qiáo) — railway bridge

Definition

noun
railway bridge
Measure word · 座

Examples

  • 铁路桥。
    Zhè zuò tiě lù qiáo jiàn yú èr shí shì jì chū qī.
    This railway bridge was built in the early 20th century.
  • 铁路桥。
    Huǒ chē zhèng zài tōng guò yí zuò hěn cháng de tiě lù qiáo.
    The train is passing through a very long railway bridge.
  • 铁路桥，。
    Zhè tiáo tiě lù qiáo lián jiē le liǎng gè chéng shì, dà dà suō duǎn le jiāo tōng shí jiān.
    This railway bridge connects two cities, greatly shortening travel time.

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.

铁路railway
铁tiěiron路lùroad
偏正Modifier + head
桥qiáobridge

铁路 means iron road, and 桥 means bridge; the phrase names a bridge built for a railway.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 鐵; 铁 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
金金jīnmetal
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢧤
𢧤𢧤鐵tiě
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 鐵 pairs 金 (metal) with 𢧤 as a sound part; the simplified 铁 is a later shorthand.

Open 铁 →

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
足足zú
Sound part声符shēngfú
各
各gè路lù
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

路 combines 足, a foot, with 各, which supplies the sound.

Open 路 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 橋; 桥 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mùwood
Sound part声符shēngfú
喬
喬qiáo橋qiáo
Same sound today

The traditional form 橋 pairs 木 (wood) with 喬 (qiáo), which gave the character its sound; the simplified 桥 is a later abbreviation.

Open 桥 →

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