套衫 (tào shān) — pullover

Definition

noun
pullover
Measure word · 件

Examples

  • 套衫。
    Zhè jiàn tào shān de yán sè hěn hǎo kàn.
    This pullover has a very nice color.
  • 套衫。
    Tā chuān le yí jiàn huī sè tào shān qù shàng bān.
    He wore a gray pullover to go to work.
  • 套衫。
    Wǒ zài shāng chǎng dǎ zhé shí mǎi le yí jiàn tào shān.
    I bought a pullover when the department store had a sale.

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.

套tàoput on
衫shānshirt

套 suggests pulling over and 衫 is a shirt, together naming a pullover.

Characters in this word

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

  • 大大dàlarge
  • 長長chánglong

套 is made from 大 (large) and 長 (long), originally for something long, with some reference to hair; it later came to mean a cover or a linked group.

Open 套 →

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
衣衣yī
Sound part声符shēngfú
彡
彡shān衫shān
Same sound today

衫 uses 衣 to show it is a garment and 彡 to give the sound.

Open 衫 →

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