报纸 (bào zhǐ) — newspaper | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

报纸 is the physical newspaper — the printed object you read. 新闻 is the news itself (the information), while 报纸 is the paper it's printed on.

noun

newspaper

Measure word · 份, 期, 张

Examples

报纸。
Wǒ měi tiān kàn yí fèn bào zhǐ.
I read a newspaper every day.
报纸？
Zhè ge xīng qī de bào zhǐ nǐ kàn le ma?
Have you read this week's newspaper?
。
Tā xǐ huan dú bào zhǐ shàng de tǐ yù xīn wén.
He likes reading sports news in the newspaper.

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.

报bàonews

纸zhǐpaper

报 “news” plus 纸 “paper”: news printed on paper.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 報; 报 is its simplified writing.

㚔㚔㚔handcuffs
𠬝𠬝𠬝to subdue

The traditional form 報 puts 㚔 (handcuffs) beside 𠬝 (to subdue), showing someone restrained and subdued, as in convicting or punishing a guilty person. The simplified 报 is a later shorthand.

Open 报 →

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 紙; 纸 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

糸糸mìsilk

Sound part声符shēngfú

氏

氏shì紙zhǐ

Same sound today

For 纸, the traditional form 紙 combines 糸 (silk) with 氏 (the sound part).

Open 纸 →

Appears in