手枪 (shǒu qiāng) — pistol | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

pistol

Measure word · 把

。
Tā mǎi le yì bǎ shǒu qiāng.
He bought a pistol.
。
Zhè bǎ shǒu qiāng hěn jiù le.
This pistol is very old.
。
Jǐng chá shǒu lǐ ná zhuó shǒu qiāng.
The police officer is holding a pistol in his hand.

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.

手 hand and 枪 gun: a gun held in hand.

Characters in this word

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

手 draws a five-fingered human hand: the top line is a bent middle finger, and the horizontal lines show the other four fingers.

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 槍; 枪 is its simplified writing.

木倉槍

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

倉

倉cāng槍qiāng

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 槍 pairs 木 (wood) with 倉 as a sound part; the simplified 枪 is a shorthand, and its right side is not the historical component.

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