骸骨 (hái gǔ) — human bones; skeleton | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

human bonesskeleton

Measure word · 副

Examples

骸骨。
Kǎo gǔ xué jiā zài dì xià fā xiàn le gǔ dài de hái gǔ.
Archaeologists discovered ancient human bones underground.
，骸骨。
Tā de shāng shì fēi cháng yán zhòng, lián hái gǔ dōu lù chū lái le.
His injury was so severe that even the bone was exposed.
骸骨。
Diàn yǐng zhōng chōng mǎn le kǒng bù de hái gǔ chǎng jǐng.
The movie was full of terrifying skeleton scenes.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

骸 bones and 骨 bones make human bones or skeleton.

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.

骨亥骸

Meaning part形符xíngfú

骨骨gǔbone

Sound part声符shēngfú

亥

亥hài骸hái

Same sound today

骸 pairs 骨, which shows the meaning is about bones, with 亥, which gives the sound.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

冎

冎guǎ骨gǔ

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The older form 冎 drew a bone; 肉, flesh, was added to make 骨.

Appears in

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