救生筏 (jiù shēng fá) — life raft | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

life raft

Measure word · 个

救生筏。
Chuán shàng yǒu yí gè jiù shēng fá.
There is a life raft on the ship.
，救生筏。
Jǐn jí qíng kuàng xià, qǐng shǐ yòng jiù shēng fá.
In an emergency, please use the life raft.
救生筏。
Zhè sōu dà chuán pèi le zú gòu duō de jiù shēng fá.
This large ship is equipped with enough life rafts.

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.

救生

动宾Verb + object

救生 means saving lives, and 筏 is a raft, so it denotes a raft used to save lives.

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

攴攴pū

Sound part声符shēngfú

求

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 救, 求 gives the sound, and 攴 is the action part.

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

生 shows 屮 (a bud) above 一 (the ground), drawing a sprout coming up from the earth.

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

竹伐筏

Meaning part形符xíngfú

竹竹zhúbamboo

Sound part声符shēngfú

伐

Same sound today

筏 has 竹 (bamboo) as its meaning part and 伐 as its sound part, pointing to a raft made of bamboo.