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天马 (tiān mǎ) — mythical/historical heavenly horse; celestial steed; (trademark) Tianma (an alphabet-based Chinese word-processing input method)

Definition

天马 refers to a mythical flying horse in Chinese legend (not an ordinary horse). Often used in literary or historical contexts, e.g. 汉武帝 sought 天马 from the West.

noun
mythical/historical heavenly horsecelestial steed(trademark) Tianma (an alphabet-based Chinese word-processing input method)
Measure word · 匹

Examples

  • 天马。
    Gǔ dài chuán shuō zhōng de tiān mǎ shì néng fēi de shén mǎ.
    In ancient legends, the heavenly horse is a divine horse that can fly.
  • 天马。
    Hàn wǔ dì céng pài rén xún zhǎo tiān mǎ.
    Emperor Wu of Han once sent people to search for heavenly horses.
  • 天马。
    Zhè ge ruǎn jiàn jiào zuò tiān mǎ shū rù fǎ.
    This software is called the Tianma input method.

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.

天tiānheaven
马mǎhorse

天 means heaven and 马 means horse, together naming a heavenly horse.

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
大大dà
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng天tiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape comes from a frontal standing man 大 with a head; 天 pairs 大 with 丁 for sound.

Open 天 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 馬; 马 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 馬 shows a horse with its head facing left, a flowing mane, and two legs standing vertically.

Open 马 →
Appears in
Mythology & Folklore

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