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门牌 (mén pái) — house number plate; building number

Definition

noun
house number platebuilding number
Measure word · 块

Examples

  • 。
    Qǐng jì zhù zhè ge mén pái hào mǎ.
    Please remember this house number.
  • 门牌。
    Wǒ jiā de mén pái shì yì bǎi líng èr hào.
    My house number is 102.
  • 门牌。
    Nà ge mén pái yǐ jīng diào le.
    That house number plate has fallen off.

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.

门méndoor
牌páiplate

门 means door and 牌 means plate, so together they mean a plate for a door.

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 門; 门 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 門 pictures a gate as two door shapes side by side; the simplified 门 is a later shorthand.

Open 门 →

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
片片piàn
Sound part声符shēngfú
卑
卑bēi牌pái
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

牌 puts 片, a flat piece, beside 卑, which gives the sound.

Open 牌 →
Appears in
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