公驴 (gōng lǘ) — male donkey, jack (jackass)

Definition

noun
male donkeyjack (jackass)
Measure word · 头

Examples

  • 公驴。
    Nóng chǎng shàng yǒu yì tóu gōng lǘ.
    There is a male donkey on the farm.
  • 公驴。
    Zhè tóu gōng lǘ de jiào shēng hěn dà.
    The bray of this male donkey is very loud.
  • 公驴。
    Tā men yòng gōng lǘ lái yùn shū huò wù.
    They use the male donkey to transport goods.

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.

公gōngmale
驴lǘdonkey

公 specifies the male sex, and 驴 names the donkey, giving a male donkey.

Characters in this word

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

One theory sees 公 as a picture of a wide-mouthed, round-bottomed jar.

Open 公 →

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 驢; 驴 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
馬馬mǎhorse
Sound part声符shēngfú
盧
盧lú驢lǘ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 驢 uses 馬 (horse) to show the meaning and 盧 to give the sound; the simplified 驴 is a later abbreviation, so its parts are not original.

Open 驴 →

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