鸟枪 (niǎo qiāng) — fowling piece; air gun

Definition

Refers mainly to a small-caliber hunting firearm (a shotgun or air gun), now mostly archaic or hobbyist. Not the military rifle sense.

noun

fowling pieceair gun

Measure word · 把

鸟枪。
Yé ye nián qīng shí cháng yòng niǎo qiāng dǎ liè.
Grandpa often used a fowling piece to hunt when he was young.
鸟枪，。
Zhè bǎ niǎo qiāng shì qì dòng de, wēi lì bú dà.
This air gun is pneumatic and not very powerful.
鸟枪，。
Xiàn zài hěn shǎo yǒu rén yòng niǎo qiāng le, dōu yòng gèng xiān jìn de wǔ qì.
Nowadays few people use fowling pieces; they all use more advanced weapons.

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.

The bird 鸟 indicates what the 枪 is used to shoot, giving a gun for fowling.

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 鳥; 鸟 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 鳥 came from a drawing of a bird with a dangling tail; the simplified 鸟 is a later abbreviation.

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 槍; 枪 is its simplified writing.

木倉槍

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

倉

倉cāng槍qiāng

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

The traditional form 槍 pairs 木 (wood) with 倉 as a sound part; the simplified 枪 is a shorthand, and its right side is not the historical component.