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小船 (xiǎo chuán) — small boat

Definition

noun
small boat
Measure word · 条

Examples

  • 小船。
    Wǒ men zuò zài yì zhī xiǎo chuán shàng huá dào le hé duì àn.
    We sat in a small boat and rowed to the other side of the river.
  • 小船，。
    Zhè tiáo xiǎo chuán shì mù tou de, hěn qīng.
    This small boat is made of wood and is very light.
  • 小船。
    Hú miàn shàng yǒu jǐ zhī xiǎo chuán zài piāo dàng.
    There are a few small boats drifting on the lake.

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
船chuánboat

The 小 small and 船 boat combine to mean a boat that is small.

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 →

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
舟舟zhōuboat
Sound part声符shēngfú
㕣
㕣㕣船
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

船 pairs 舟 (boat) with 㕣 for its sound.

Open 船 →
Appears in
Boats & Water Travel

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