安全岛 (ān quán dǎo) — pedestrian island, safety island (raised area in the middle of a road for pedestrians to wait)

Definition

A raised concrete strip in the middle of a wide road that gives pedestrians a safe place to wait before finishing the crossing.

noun
pedestrian islandsafety island (raised area in the middle of a road for pedestrians to wait)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • ，安全岛。
    Guò mǎ lù shí, nǐ kě yǐ xiān zài ān quán dǎo shàng tíng yí xià.
    When crossing the street, you can stop on the pedestrian island first.
  • ，安全岛。
    Zhè tiáo mǎ lù tài kuān le, zhōng jiān yǒu yí gè ān quán dǎo.
    This road is too wide — there's a safety island in the middle.
  • 安全岛。
    Sī jī kàn dào ān quán dǎo shàng de xíng rén yào jiǎn sù.
    Drivers should slow down when they see pedestrians on the safety island.

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.

安全safe
安ānsafe全quáncomplete
联合Side by side
岛dǎoisland

安全 means safe, and 岛 is an island, so it names a small safe place in the road.

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
宀宀mián
Sound part声符shēngfú
女
女nǚ安ān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 安, 宀 sits above a seated 女 on a cushion; 宀 is the meaning part, 女 is the sound part, and the character originally meant sitting at ease.

Open 安 →

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

The shape puts 入 together with 玉 to show a whole piece of jade, so it means complete or whole.

Open 全 →

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 島; 岛 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
山山shānmountain
Sound part声符shēngfú
鳥
鳥niǎo島dǎo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 島 uses 山, meaning mountain, and 鳥 for the sound. The simplified 岛 is a later shorthand.

Open 岛 →

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