充气 (chōng qì) — to inflate, to blow up (with air) | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A verb meaning to fill something with air — usually a balloon, tire, or mattress. Note it can split: 充气 in 充一次气 (the example with 轮胎).

verb

to inflateto blow up (with air)

Examples

充气。
Zhè ge qì qiú xū yào chōng qì.
This balloon needs to be inflated.
。
Wǒ gěi lún tāi chōng le yí cì qì.
I inflated the tire once.
充气。
Tā gěi chōng qì chuáng chōng le shí fēn zhōng de qì.
He inflated the air mattress for ten minutes.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

The 充 'fill' and 气 'air' combine to mean putting air into something.

Characters in this word

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

𠫓儿充

𠫓𠫓𠫓a newborn
儿儿érstanding person

充 pairs 𠫓, a newborn, with 儿, a standing person, to picture a newborn growing to stand.

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 氣; 气 is its simplified writing.

气米氣

Meaning part形符xíngfú

米米mǐrice

Sound part声符shēngfú

气

气qì氣qì

Same sound today

The traditional form 氣 pairs 米 (rice) with 气, which supplies the sound; the simplified 气 is a later abbreviation.

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