摩托艇 (mó tuō tǐng) — motorboat | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

motorboat

Measure word · 艘

Examples

摩托艇。
Tā kāi zhe yì sōu mó tuō tǐng zài hú shàng fēi chí.
He drove a motorboat racing across the lake.
摩托艇。
Zhè sōu mó tuō tǐng de sù dù fēi cháng kuài.
This motorboat is very fast.
摩托艇。
Wǒ xǐ huan zuò mó tuō tǐng chū hǎi.
I like going out to sea on a motorboat.

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.

摩托motor

音译Transliteration

摩托 spells the foreign idea of a motor, and 艇 is a boat, so together they mean a motorboat.

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.

麻手摩

Meaning part形符xíngfú

手手shǒuhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

麻

麻má摩mó

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

摩 combines 手 (hand) with 麻; the hand part relates to the meaning, and 麻 gives the sound.

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

乇

乇tuō托tuō

Same sound today

托 is built from 手 (hand) and 乇, which gives the sound tuō.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

舟廷艇

Meaning part形符xíngfú

舟舟zhōuboat

Sound part声符shēngfú

廷

廷tíng艇tǐng

Same sound today

艇 pairs 舟, meaning boat, with 廷, which gives the sound.

Appears in

Boats & Water Travel

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