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塔楼 (tǎ lóu) — tower building; turret (architectural structure)

Definition

塔楼 (tǎ lóu) is a tall tower-like building, or a turret on a fortification. Distinct from 楼房 (a generic multi-story building) — 塔楼 emphasizes the tower shape or military/defensive turret structure.

noun
tower buildingturret (architectural structure)
Measure word · 座

Examples

  • 塔楼，。
    Zhè zuò tǎ lóu hěn gāo, yǒu sān shí céng.
    This tower building is very tall; it has 30 floors.
  • 塔楼。
    Tā zhù zài zuì gāo de nà dòng tǎ lóu lǐ.
    He lives in the tallest tower building.
  • 塔楼。
    Gǔ chéng de tǎ lóu shì yòng lái fáng yù de.
    The turret of the ancient city was used for defense.

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tǎtower
楼lóubuilding

'塔' tower and '楼' building combine to mean a tower-like building.

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 →

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 樓; 楼 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mùtree
Sound part声符shēngfú
婁
婁lóu樓lóu
Same sound today

The traditional form 樓 pairs 木 (tree) with 婁 as its sound part; the simplified 楼 is a later shorthand.

Open 楼 →
Appears in
Buildings & Structures

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