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马拉松 (mǎ lá sōng) — marathon (long-distance running race, 42.195 km); marathon (anything that is long and arduous, e.g. a meeting, a negotiation)

Definition

From English "marathon" — the 42.195 km race, and by extension any very long, drawn-out event. In the figurative sense, it stresses unusually long duration, not difficulty.

noun
marathon (long-distance running race, 42.195 km)marathon (anything that is long and arduous, e.g. a meeting, a negotiation)
Measure word · 场

Examples

  • 马拉松。
    Tā měi nián dōu cān jiā chéng shì mǎ lá sōng bǐ sài.
    He takes part in the city marathon race every year.
  • 马拉松。
    Zhè chǎng tán pàn xiàng mǎ lá sōng yí yàng jìn xíng le shí èr gè xiǎo shí.
    This negotiation went on for twelve hours like a marathon.
  • 马拉松，。
    Pǎo wán mǎ lá sōng hòu, tā xiū xi le hǎo jǐ tiān.
    After finishing the marathon, he rested for several days.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
音译yīnyìTransliteration

The characters spell the sound of a foreign word; their individual meanings play no part.

马mǎ
拉lā
松sōng

The characters 马、拉、松 together spell the English sound of marathon; individually they do not contribute meanings.

Sound-only characters

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 馬; 马 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 馬 shows a horse with its head facing left, a flowing mane, and two legs standing vertically.

Open 马 →

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
手手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
立
立lì拉lā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

拉 pairs 手 (hand) with 立, a component that supplies the sound.

Open 拉 →

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
木木mùwood
Sound part声符shēngfú
公
公gōng松sōng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

松 uses 木 (wood) to show it is a tree, and 公 to give the sound.

Open 松 →
Appears in
Sports & Athletics

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