修理工 (xiū lǐ gōng) — repairman; mechanic (a person who repairs machi…

Definition

noun

repairmanmechanic (a person who repairs machinery or equipment)

Measure word · 个

修理工。
Lóu xià yǒu wèi xiū lǐ gōng zài xiū shuǐ guǎn.
There's a repairman downstairs fixing the water pipe.
，修理工。
Qì chē huài le, wǒ dǎ diàn huà jiào le gè xiū lǐ gōng.
The car broke down, so I called a mechanic.
修理工，。
Nà ge xiū lǐ gōng jì shù hěn hǎo, yí cì jiù xiū hǎo le.
That repairman is very skilled; he fixed it in one go.

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.

修理repair

联合Coordinate

修理 means to repair, and 工 means a worker, so 修理工 is a person who repairs machinery.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

彡彡shān

Sound part声符shēngfú

攸

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

修 is built from 攸, which gives the sound, and 彡, a set of three strokes that shows the meaning.

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

玉玉yùjade

Sound part声符shēngfú

里

Same sound today

理 pairs 玉 (jade) with 里, which shows how to say it; the jade part points to the old sense of polishing jade.

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.

Appears in