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三轮车 (sān lún chē) — pedicab; tricycle

Definition

noun
pedicabtricycle
Measure word · 辆

Examples

  • 三轮车。
    Tā qí zhe yí liàng sān lún chē zài jiē shàng zǒu.
    He is riding a pedicab on the street.
  • 三轮车。
    Zhè liàng sān lún chē kě yǐ zuò liǎng gè rén.
    This pedicab can seat two people.
  • 三轮车。
    Wǒ xiǎo shí hou yǒu yí liàng hóng sè de sān lún chē.
    When I was little, I had a red tricycle.

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.

三轮three wheels
三sānthree轮lúnwheel
偏正Modifier + head
车chēvehicle

三 means three, 轮 wheel, 车 vehicle; a vehicle with three wheels.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

三 is drawn as three parallel strokes, like 一 with one stroke and 二 with two.

Open 三 →

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 輪; 轮 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
車車jūcarriage
Sound part声符shēngfú
侖
侖lún輪lún
Same sound today

The traditional form 輪 uses 車, a carriage, and 侖 for the sound; the simplified 轮 is a later shorthand.

Open 轮 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 車; 车 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 車 was drawn as a carriage seen from above, with wheels on both sides and a shaft at the front; the simplified 车 is a later shorthand.

Open 车 →
Appears in
Vehicles

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