侧卧 (cè wò) — to lie on one's side | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

verb

to lie on one's side

侧卧，。
Yī shēng jiàn yì tā cè wò shuì jiào, zhè yàng duì hū xī gèng hǎo.
The doctor advised him to sleep on his side, which is better for breathing.
侧卧。
cè wò Shì yì zhǒng cháng jiàn de shuì mián zī shì.
Sleeping on one's side is a common sleeping position.
侧卧，。
Tā cè wò zhe kàn shū, bù yí huì r jiù shuì zháo le.
He was reading lying on his side and fell asleep after a while.

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.

侧 (side) and 卧 (lie) combine to mean lying on one's side.

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 側; 侧 is its simplified writing.

亻則側

Meaning part形符xíngfú

亻Written in full as人rén

Sound part声符shēngfú

則

則zé側cè

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

The traditional form 側 has 亻, a person, and uses 則 to show its sound. The simplified 侧 is a later shorthand.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 臥; 卧 is its simplified writing.

臣人臥

The traditional form 臥 pairs 臣 (an eye pointing down) with 人 (a person).