单轨 (dān guǐ) — single-track (railroad) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

single-track (railroad)

Measure word · 条

Examples

单轨，。
Zhè tiáo tiě lù shì dān guǐ de, suǒ yǐ zhǐ néng dān xiàng xíng shǐ.
This railway is single-track, so trains can only run in one direction at a time.
单轨，。
Yóu yú dān guǐ de xiàn zhì, liè chē xū yào zài zhè ge zhàn huì chē.
Due to the single-track limitation, trains need to meet at this station.
单轨。
Zhè duàn dān guǐ tiě lù měi tiān zhǐ yǒu jǐ tàng liè chē tōng guò.
Only a few trains pass through this section of single-track railway each day.

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.

单轨 combines 单 single with 轨 track to mean a railroad with one track.

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 單; 单 is its simplified writing.

The form 單 originally pictured a Y-shaped wooden stick with two stones on top.

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 軌; 轨 is its simplified writing.

車九軌

Meaning part形符xíngfú

車車jū

Sound part声符shēngfú

九

九jiǔ軌guǐ

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

The traditional form 軌 pairs 車 (cart) with 九 as a sound part; the simplified 轨 is a later shorthand.

Appears in

Trains & Transit

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