长袜 (cháng wà) — stockings | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

stockings

Measure word · 双

Examples

长袜。
Tā jīn tiān chuān le yì shuāng hēi sè cháng wà.
She wore a pair of black stockings today.
长袜。
Dōng tiān chuān cháng wà kě yǐ bǎo nuǎn.
Wearing stockings in winter can help keep you warm.
长袜。
Shāng diàn lǐ yǒu hěn duō bù tóng yán sè de cháng wà.
The store has many different colors of stockings.

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.

长 is long and 袜 is a sock; together they mean long socks or stockings.

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 長; 长 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 長 pictures an old man with long hair. The simplified 长 is a later shorthand, so its strokes do not show that original picture.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

末

末mò袜wà

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

袜 combines 衣, related to clothing, with 末, which provides the sound.

Appears in

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