小轿车 (xiǎo jiào chē) — sedan car; limousine

Definition

noun
sedan carlimousine
Measure word · 辆

Examples

  • −小轿车。
    Wǒ kāi de shì − liàng xiǎo jiào chē.
    I drive a sedan.
  • 小轿车。
    Zhè liàng xiǎo jiào chē néng zuò wǔ gè rén.
    This sedan can seat five people.
  • 小轿车。
    Tā mǎi le yí liàng hēi sè de xiǎo jiào chē.
    He bought a black sedan.

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
轿车sedan car
轿jiàosedan车chēvehicle
偏正Modifier + head

小 indicates a small passenger vehicle; 轿 points to sedan-like enclosed carriage and 车 to vehicle.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 轎; 轿 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
車車jū
Sound part声符shēngfú
喬
喬qiáo轎jiào
Same sound today

The traditional form 轎 has 車, a vehicle, and 喬, which gives the sound; the simplified 轿 is a later shorthand.

Open 轿 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 車; 车 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 車 was drawn as a carriage seen from above, with wheels on both sides and a shaft at the front; the simplified 车 is a later shorthand.

Open 车 →

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