太空人 (tài kōng rén) — astronaut (including cosmonaut and taikonaut) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

astronaut (including cosmonaut and taikonaut)

Measure word · 位

Examples

太空人。
Zhè wèi tài kōng rén céng zài guó jì kōng jiān zhàn gōng zuò guò liù gè yuè.
This astronaut once worked on the International Space Station for six months.
太空人，。
Tā cóng xiǎo jiù xiǎng dāng tài kōng rén, xiàn zài zhōng yú shí xiàn le mèng xiǎng.
He wanted to be an astronaut since he was young, and now he has finally realized his dream.
太空人。
Zhōng guó tài kōng rén zài yuè qiú shàng jìn xíng le kē xué shí yàn.
Chinese taikonauts conducted scientific experiments on the moon.

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.

太空outer space

太tàiextreme空kōngemptiness

偏正Modifier + head

“太空” names outer space, and “人” gives person, so the word means a person who travels in space.

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.

太 is a modified form of 大, with an extra dot added to show 'too big'.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

穴工空

Meaning part形符xíngfú

穴穴xuécave, hole

Sound part声符shēngfú

工

工gōng空kōng

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

空 is built from 穴, a cave or hole, and 工, which gives the sound.

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Appears in

Space Exploration Professions & Jobs

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