大街 (dà jiē) — main street | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

main street

Measure word · 条

大街。
Zhè tiáo dà jiē shàng yǒu hěn duō shāng diàn.
There are many shops on this main street.
大街。
Zhōu mò de dà jiē zǒng shì hěn rè nao.
The main street is always lively on weekends.
大街。
Yán zhe dà jiē yì zhí zǒu jiù néng kàn dào gōng yuán.
Walk straight along the main street and you'll see the park.

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.

大 ('big') specifies 街 ('street'), giving 'main street'.

Characters in this word

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

圭

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

街 combines 行 and 圭: 行 is the meaning part, and 圭 is the sound part. Originally, 圭 drew a pair of ritual axes, not earth.

Appears in