鸟笼 (niǎo lóng) — bird cage | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

bird cage

Measure word · 个

Examples

鸟笼。
Tā zài chǒng wù diàn mǎi le yí gè xīn de niǎo lóng.
He bought a new bird cage at the pet store.
鸟笼，。
Wǒ měi tiān dōu huì qīng xǐ niǎo lóng, bǎo chí gān jìng.
I clean the bird cage every day to keep it clean.
鸟笼。
Nà zhī xiǎo niǎo zài niǎo lóng lǐ chàng gē.
That little bird is singing inside the bird cage.

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 is bird and 笼 is cage, so it names a cage for birds.

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 籠; 笼 is its simplified writing.

𥫗龍籠

Meaning part形符xíngfú

𥫗Written in full as竹zhú

Sound part声符shēngfú

龍

龍lóng籠lóng

Same sound today

The traditional form 籠 is built from 竹 (bamboo) and 龍, which gives the sound. The simplified 笼 is a later shorthand.

Appears in

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