小工 (xiǎo gōng) — unskilled laborer | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

unskilled laborer

Measure word · 个

小工。
Tā zài gōng dì shàng dàng xiǎo gōng.
He works as an unskilled laborer on the construction site.
小工。
Zhè ge xiǎo gōng huó r gān dé hěn hǎo.
This laborer does his work very well.
小工。
Lǎo bǎn gù le sān gè xiǎo gōng lái bān dōng xi.
The boss hired three laborers to move things.

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.

小 marks a junior or unskilled role and 工 names a worker, together giving an unskilled laborer.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 小 comes from three small dots, later elongated into its strokes; the apparent parts 八 and 丨 are a later way of seeing it.

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

The shape of 工 is a picture of a bladed tool used to plow ground or mark a border; some read it as a carpenter's square.

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