室友 (shì yǒu) — roommate | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

roommate

Measure word · 个

室友。
Wǒ de shì yǒu yǐ jīng bān zǒu le.
My roommate has already moved out.
室友。
Tā gēn shì yǒu xiāng chǔ dé fēi cháng hǎo.
She gets along very well with her roommate.
室友。
Xīn lái de shì yǒu shì gè hěn ān jìng de rén.
The new roommate is a very quiet person.

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.

室 refers to a room and 友 to a friend, together a friend sharing a room.

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.

宀至室

Meaning part形符xíngfú

宀宀miánroof

Sound part声符shēngfú

至

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

室 puts 宀 (roof) over 至, the spot where someone stops, giving the meaning of a house or residence.

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

又又友

友 is drawn as two 又, the hand form, side by side. The old explanation says two hands together mean friendship.

Appears in