华航 (huá háng) — China Airlines (Taiwan) | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

China Airlines (Taiwan)

Examples

华航。
Wǒ zuò huá háng qù tái běi.
I flew China Airlines to Taipei.
华航。
huá háng De fēi jī hěn xīn.
China Airlines' planes are very new.
华航？
Nǐ tīng guò huá háng zhè ge míng zì ma?
Have you heard of the name China Airlines?

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.

航hángaviation

华 conveys China, 航 conveys aviation, so 华航 names the airline.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 華; 华 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 華 showed flowers on a plant, with stalk and leaves below. The simplified 华 is a later shorthand and not the original picture.

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

舟亢航

Meaning part形符xíngfú

舟舟zhōuboat

Sound part声符shēngfú

亢

亢kàng航háng

Same sound today

航 shows a boat with 舟, and 亢 gives the character its sound.

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