小舟 (xiǎo zhōu) — small boat, skiff

Definition

noun
small boatskiff
Measure word · 条

Examples

  • 小舟。
    Hú shàng yǒu yì zhī xiǎo zhōu.
    There is a small boat on the lake.
  • 小舟。
    Tā huá zhe xiǎo zhōu guò le hé.
    He rowed the small boat across the river.
  • 小舟。
    xiǎo zhōu Zài fēng zhōng qīng qīng yáo huàng.
    The small boat gently rocked in the wind.

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.

小xiǎosmall
舟zhōuboat

小舟 pairs 小 meaning small with 舟 meaning boat, giving a small boat.

Characters in this word

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

  • 八八bāto divide; to separate
  • 丨丨gǔnsmall object

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.

Open 小 →

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

舟 was originally a drawing of a boat.

Open 舟 →

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