拷贝 (kǎo bèi) — (noun) copy, duplicate; (verb) to copy

Definition

拷贝 (kǎobèi) is a borrowed word for 'copy/duplicate', mainly used for files, documents, or digital data. Unlike 抄 or 复印, it sounds technical and is common in IT contexts.

noun
copyduplicate
verb
to copy

Examples

  • 拷贝U。
    Qǐng bǎ zhè ge wén jiàn kǎo bèi dào U pán lǐ.
    Please copy this file to the USB drive.
  • 拷贝，。
    Zhè shì yuán jiàn de kǎo bèi, bú shì yuán jiàn.
    This is a copy of the original, not the original itself.
  • 拷贝。
    Wǒ xū yào yí fèn kǎo bèi.
    I need a copy.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
音译yīnyìTransliteration

The characters spell the sound of a foreign word; their individual meanings play no part.

拷kǎo
贝bèi

拷 and 贝 carry no meaning of their own here; together they spell the English word for copy.

Sound-only characters

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
扌Written in full as手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
考
考kǎo拷kǎo
Same sound today

拷 puts 扌 (hand) beside 考, which gives the sound; this form replaced the earlier 考.

Open 拷 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 貝; 贝 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 貝, not the simplified 贝, shows a cowrie shell used as money in ancient China.

Open 贝 →

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