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马路 (mǎ lù) — street; road

Definition

马路 is the everyday word for a paved 'street' or 'road' (with cars). 街 is narrower — a street with shops and people. 道路 is formal/written, often for routes or general 'road' in signage.

noun
streetroad
Measure word · 条

Examples

  • 马路。
    Zhè tiáo mǎ lù hěn gān jìng.
    This street is very clean.
  • 。
    Bú yào zài mǎ lù shang wán qiú.
    Don't play ball on the road.
  • 马路。
    Wǒ jiā mén kǒu yǒu yì tiáo mǎ lù.
    There's a road in front of my house.

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.

马mǎhorse
路lùroad

马 refers to horses and 路 to a road, so the word originally meant a road for horses.

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 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
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 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 3Roads & Traffic

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