扑腾 (pū teng) — (onomatopoeia) thump, thud (sound of something heavy falling or flapping); (verb) to flap, to thrash about

Definition

Onomatopoeia for a heavy 'thump' or 'thud' (something falling, flapping, thrashing). Often reduplicated as 扑腾扑腾 to mimic repeated flopping sounds.

onomatopoeia
thumpthud (sound of something heavy falling or flapping)
verb
to flapto thrash about

Examples

  • 扑腾，。
    Zhī tīng jiàn pū teng yī shēng, yí gè dà xiāng zi diào le xià lái.
    I just heard a thud — a big box fell down.
  • 扑腾扑腾。
    Xiǎo niǎo zài lóng zi lǐ pū teng pū teng dì pāi zhe chì bǎng.
    The little bird was flapping its wings in the cage with a thumping sound.
  • 扑腾。
    Yú zài àn shàng pū teng le jǐ xià jiù bú dòng le.
    The fish flopped a few times on the bank and then stopped moving.

Origin

Characters in this word

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
手手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
卜
卜bǔ扑pū
Same sound today

扑 uses 手 (hand) for meaning and 卜 (bǔ) for sound.

Open 扑 →

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 騰; 腾 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
馬馬mǎhorse
Sound part声符shēngfú
朕
朕zhèn騰téng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 騰 pairs 馬 (horse) with 朕 as a sound part; it described a horse's gallop or prance. The simplified 腾 is a later shorthand.

Open 腾 →

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