黄铜 (huáng tóng) — brass | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

brass

Examples

黄铜。
Zhè zuò diāo xiàng shì yòng huáng tóng zhì chéng de.
This statue is made of brass.
黄铜，。
huáng tóng Bǐ tóng gèng yìng, yán sè yě gèng liàng.
Brass is harder than copper and also brighter in color.
黄铜。
Tā shōu cáng le xǔ duō huáng tóng zhì de gǔ dǒng.
He collects many brass antiques.

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.

黄huángyellow

铜tóngcopper

黄 means yellow and 铜 means copper; together they name the yellow copper alloy brass.

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 黃; 黄 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

田田tiánfield

Sound part声符shēngfú

炗

炗guāng黃huáng

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 黃 pairs 田 (field) with 炗 (light), which gives the sound; the simplified 黄 is a shorthand and its parts are not historical components.

Open 黄 →

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 銅; 铜 is its simplified writing.

金同銅

Meaning part形符xíngfú

金金jīnmetal

Sound part声符shēngfú

同

同tóng銅tóng

Same sound today

The traditional form 銅 pairs 金 (metal) with 同 as the sound part; the simplified 铜 is a shorthand.

Open 铜 →