人工呼吸 (rén gōng hū xī) — artificial respiration

Definition

noun
artificial respiration

Examples

  • 人工呼吸
    Yī shēng duì bìng rén jìn xíng le rén gōng hū xī.
    The doctor performed artificial respiration on the patient.
  • 人工呼吸
    Xué xí rén gōng hū xī de jī běn bù zhòu duì jiù rén hěn yǒu bāng zhù.
    Learning the basic steps of artificial respiration is very helpful for saving lives.
  • 人工呼吸
    Tā zài jí jiù xùn liàn zhōng xué huì le rén gōng hū xī.
    He learned artificial respiration in first aid training.

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.

人工human-made
rénhumangōngwork
偏正Modifier + head
呼吸breathing
exhaleinhale
联合Coordinate

人工 says human-made and 呼吸 says breathing, so it means artificial respiration.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →

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

The shape of 工 is a picture of a bladed tool used to plow ground or mark a border; some read it as a carpenter's square.

Open 工 →

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
kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
Same sound today

呼 uses 口 (mouth) to show exhaling, calling, or shouting, and 乎 gives the sound.

Open 呼 →

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

吸 pairs 口 (mouth) with 及, which gives the sound and relates to grabbing, so the shape suggests grabbing through the mouth.

Open 吸 →

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