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驼背 (tuó bèi) — hunchbacked; stooping; hunchback (person)

Definition

A condition or person with a curved upper back (rounded shoulders, stooped posture), from 驼 'hump' + 背 'back'. Used as a noun for the condition (or a person with it) and as an adjective meaning 'hunchbacked'.

hunchbackedstoopinghunchback (person)

Examples

  • 驼背，。
    Tā cóng xiǎo tuó bèi, zǒu lù zǒng shì wān zhe yāo.
    He has been hunchbacked since childhood and always walks with a bent back.
  • 驼背。
    Zhè wèi tuó bèi de lǎo rén zuò zài mén kǒu shài tài yáng.
    This elderly hunchbacked man is sitting at the door sunbathing.
  • ，驼背。
    Tā yīn wèi cháng qī zuò zī bú zhèng què, biàn chéng le yí gè tuó bèi.
    He became a hunchback because of long-term bad sitting posture.

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.

驼tuócamel/hump
背bèiback

驼 (camel/hump) and 背 (back) combine to picture a back curved like a camel's hump.

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 駝; 驼 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
馬馬mǎhorse
Sound part声符shēngfú
它
它tā駝tuó
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 駝 shows 馬 (horse) beside 它, which gives the sound; the simplified 驼 is a shorthand, so its parts are not historical pieces.

Open 驼 →

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
月Written in full as肉ròumeat
Sound part声符shēngfú
北
北běi背bèi
Same sound today

背 was first written as 北; 北 gives the sound, and 肉 (meat, written as 月 here) was added to separate it from 北’s north meaning.

Open 背 →
Appears in
Injury & Disability

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