井筒 (jǐng tǒng) — mine shaft; well shaft

Definition

noun
mine shaftwell shaft
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 井筒。
    Gōng rén men zhèng zài xiū jiàn yí gè xīn de jǐng tǒng.
    The workers are building a new shaft.
  • 井筒。
    Zhè ge jǐng tǒng yǒu sān bǎi duō mǐ shēn.
    This shaft is over three hundred meters deep.
  • 井筒。
    Kuàng jǐng de jǐng tǒng xū yào dìng qī jiǎn chá.
    The mine shaft needs regular inspection.

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.

井jǐngwell
筒tǒngtube

井 (well) and 筒 (tube) form the tube-like shaft of a well or mine.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 井 draws a square well with supports on four sides.

Open 井 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
𥫗Written in full as竹zhúbamboo
Sound part声符shēngfú
同
同tóng筒tǒng
Same sound today

The bamboo part 竹 marks 筒 as a bamboo tube, and 同 gives its sound.

Open 筒 →

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