啄木鸟 (zhuó mù niǎo) — woodpecker | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

woodpecker

Measure word · 只

Examples

啄木鸟。
zhuó mù niǎo Yòng jiān jiān de zuǐ zài shù shàng zhuó dòng zhǎo chóng zi chī.
Woodpeckers use their sharp beaks to peck holes in trees looking for insects to eat.
啄木鸟。
Sēn lín lǐ de zhuó mù niǎo duì kòng zhì hài chóng shù liàng hěn yǒu bāng zhù.
Woodpeckers in the forest are very helpful for controlling pest populations.
啄木鸟。
Zhè zhǒng zhuó mù niǎo de yǔ máo yán sè fēi cháng xiān yàn.
This species of woodpecker has very bright feather colors.

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.

啄木peck wood

啄zhuópeck木mùwood

动宾Verb + object

“啄木” means peck wood and “鸟” is bird, so a bird that pecks wood.

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.

口豖啄

Meaning part形符xíngfú

口口kǒumouth

Sound part声符shēngfú

豖

豖chù啄zhuó

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

In 啄, the left part 口 is mouth, and the right part 豖 gives the sound.

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

木 is drawn as a tree, with branches above and roots below.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 鳥; 鸟 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 鳥 came from a drawing of a bird with a dangling tail; the simplified 鸟 is a later abbreviation.

Appears in

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