塔尖 (tǎ jiān) — tip of a pagoda, pagoda spire

Definition

noun
tip of a pagodapagoda spire
Measure word · 座

Examples

  • 塔尖。
    Zhè zuò gǔ tǎ de tǎ jiān zài yáng guāng zhōng shǎn shǎn fā guāng.
    The tip of this ancient pagoda glitters in the sunlight.
  • ，塔尖。
    Yuǎn chù kě yǐ kàn dào yí zuò gāo tǎ, tǎ jiān zhí rù yún xiāo.
    In the distance you can see a high pagoda, its peak piercing the clouds.
  • 塔尖。
    Huà jiā zhuān mén huà le zhè zuò tǎ de tǎ jiān.
    The painter specially painted the tip of this pagoda.

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.

塔tǎpagoda
尖jiāntip

尖 is the tip of 塔, a pagoda.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
土土tǔ
Sound part声符shēngfú
荅
荅dá塔tǎ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

塔 shows 土 (earth) for the meaning and 荅 (dá) for the sound.

Open 塔 →

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

尖 puts 小 (small) above 大 (large), showing the width of an object gradually changing from small to large.

Open 尖 →

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