剑齿虎 (jiàn chǐ hǔ) — saber-toothed tiger

Definition

noun
saber-toothed tiger
Measure word · 只

Examples

  • 剑齿虎。
    Bó wù guǎn lǐ zhǎn shì le yí jù jiàn chǐ hǔ de huà shí.
    The museum displayed a fossil of a saber-toothed tiger.
  • 剑齿虎。
    jiàn chǐ hǔ Shì yì zhǒng yǐ jīng miè jué de shǐ qián dòng wù.
    The saber-toothed tiger is a prehistoric animal that has already gone extinct.
  • 剑齿虎，。
    jiàn chǐ hǔ De zhǎng yá fēi cháng fēng lì, yòng lái bǔ shí dà xíng dòng wù.
    The saber-toothed tiger's long teeth were very sharp, used to hunt large animals.

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.

剑齿sword tooth
剑jiànsword齿chǐtooth
偏正Modifier + head
虎hǔtiger

剑 'sword' + 齿 'tooth' + 虎 'tiger' names a tiger with sword-like teeth.

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 劍; 剑 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
刂Written in full as刀dāo
Sound part声符shēngfú
僉
僉qiān劍jiàn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 劍 pairs 僉 as the sound part with 刂, a knife sign written as 刀, as the meaning part; the simplified 剑 is a later shorthand.

Open 剑 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 齒; 齿 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 齒 originally drew a mouth full of teeth, and later gained a part that gives a clue to its sound. The simplified 齿 is a later shorthand.

Open 齿 →

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

虎 originally drew a tiger's head. Its body disappeared, and the legs and tail became the lower part.

Open 虎 →

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