养猪 (yǎng zhū) — to raise pigs; pig farming | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A verb-object phrase: 养 ('raise/keep') + 猪 ('pig'). It means the activity or business of raising pigs, not a single pig kept as a pet — use it for farming, not for owning one pet pig.

verb

to raise pigspig farming

Examples

养猪。
Tā jiā yǐ qián kào yǎng zhū wéi shēng.
His family used to make a living by raising pigs.
。
Tā yǎng le èr shí tóu zhū.
He raised twenty pigs.
。
Wǒ cóng lái méi yǎng guò zhū.
I have never raised pigs.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

养 means raise and 猪 means pig; together they mean raising pigs.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 養; 养 is its simplified writing.

羊羊yángsheep
食食shíto feed

The traditional form 養 uses 羊 as a sound part and 食 as a meaning part.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

犭者猪

Meaning part形符xíngfú

犭Written in full as犬quǎndog

Sound part声符shēngfú

者

者zhě猪zhū

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

猪 combines 犭, a dog sign, with 者 as a sound part.

Appears in

Agriculture & Farming Animals & Mammals

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