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鸟窝 (niǎo wō) — bird's nest

Definition

noun
bird's nest
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 鸟窝。
    Shù shàng yǒu yí gè niǎo wō.
    There's a bird's nest in the tree.
  • 鸟窝。
    niǎo wō Lǐ yǒu sān zhī xiǎo niǎo.
    There are three baby birds in the nest.
  • 鸟窝。
    Fēng bǎ niǎo wō chuī dào le dì shàng.
    The wind blew the nest to the ground.

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.

鸟niǎobird
窝wōnest

鸟 (bird) specifies the kind of 窝 (nest), giving a bird's nest.

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.

Open 鸟 →

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 窩; 窝 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
穴穴xuécave
Sound part声符shēngfú
咼
咼wāi窩wō
Same sound today

The traditional form 窩 uses 穴, a cave, for meaning and 咼 for sound; the simplified 窝 is a later shorthand.

Open 窝 →
Appears in
Birds

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