早班车 (zǎo bān chē) — early bus (first bus of the day)

Definition

noun
early bus (first bus of the day)
Measure word · 辆

Examples

  • 早班车。
    Wǒ měi tiān zuò zǎo bān chē qù shàng bān.
    I take the early bus to work every day.
  • 早班车。
    zǎo bān chē Zài zǎo shàng liù diǎn chū fā.
    The early bus departs at six in the morning.
  • 早班车，。
    Rú guǒ nǐ zuò zǎo bān chē, kě yǐ bì kāi dǔ chē.
    If you take the early bus, you can avoid traffic jams.

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.

早zǎoearly
班车bus
班bānrun车chēvehicle
偏正Modifier + head

早 gives early and 班车 gives bus, so it means the early bus.

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
日日rìsun
Sound part声符shēngfú
棗
棗zǎo早zǎo
Same sound today

The form 早 pairs 日 (sun) with 棗, which gives the sound; an earlier shape of 早 was a picture of an acorn.

Open 早 →

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

  • 珏珏juépieces of jade
  • 刀刀dāoknife

班 shows 珏, pieces of jade, and 刀, a knife, cutting them into pieces.

Open 班 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 車; 车 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 車 was drawn as a carriage seen from above, with wheels on both sides and a shaft at the front; the simplified 车 is a later shorthand.

Open 车 →

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