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驳船 (bó chuán) — barge; lighter (a flat-bottomed boat for carrying cargo on rivers and canals)

Definition

noun
bargelighter (a flat-bottomed boat for carrying cargo on rivers and canals)
Measure word · 艘

Examples

  • 驳船。
    Zhè tiáo hé shàng yǒu xǔ duō bó chuán lái wǎng yùn shū huò wù.
    Many barges travel back and forth on this river to transport goods.
  • 驳船。
    Gōng rén men yòng bó chuán bǎ méi tàn cóng mǎ tou yùn dào gōng chǎng.
    The workers used a lighter to transport coal from the dock to the factory.
  • 驳船，。
    bó chuán Suī rán sù dù màn, dàn zài huò liàng hěn dà.
    Although barges are slow, their cargo capacity is very large.

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.

驳bócargo transfer
船chuánboat

驳 refers to transferring cargo and 船 names a boat, together meaning a boat for transferring cargo.

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 駁; 驳 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
馬馬mǎhorse
Sound part声符shēngfú
爻
爻yáo駁bó
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 駁 pairs 馬, a horse, with 爻, which gives the sound and can also be interpreted as marks; the simplified 驳 is a later abbreviation.

Open 驳 →

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
舟舟zhōuboat
Sound part声符shēngfú
㕣
㕣㕣船
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

船 pairs 舟 (boat) with 㕣 for its sound.

Open 船 →
Appears in
Boats & Water Travel

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