放牛 (fàng niú) — to herd cattle, to graze cattle

Definition

A separable verb meaning to herd or graze cattle — let them out to feed on grass, often in the countryside.

verb

to herd cattleto graze cattle

放牛。
Tā zài xiāng xia fàng niú.
He herds cattle in the countryside.
。
Tā fàng guò sān cì niú.
He has herded cattle three times.
放牛。
Xiǎo shí hou wǒ tiān tiān fàng niú.
When I was young, I herded cattle every day.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

放 expresses letting animals out, and 牛 names the cattle being herded.

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.

方攵放

Meaning part形符xíngfú

攵Written in full as攴pūhand, action

Sound part声符shēngfú

方

Same sound today

放 uses 方 for its sound and 攵, a hand/action part, to mark an action of release.

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

牛 is drawn as a bull's head, with two horns and two ears.