晕船 (yùn chuán) — to get seasick (on a boat)

Definition

A verb-object phrase meaning 'to get seasick (on a boat)'. Like other 晕-X compounds (晕车 'carsick', 晕机 'airsick'), 晕 names the nausea and X names the vehicle.

verb

to get seasick (on a boat)

Examples

，晕船。
Jīn tiān fēng làng hěn dà, wǒ yǒu diǎn yùn chuán.
The waves are big today — I feel a bit seasick.
。
Tā zuò chuán cóng lái méi jiàn guò chuán.
He has never gotten seasick on a boat.
，晕船？
Nǐ yào bú yào chī yào, miǎn de yùn chuán?
Do you want to take medicine to avoid getting seasick?

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

晕yūnfeel dizzy

船chuánboat

晕 gives dizziness and 船 gives boat, so together they mean feeling sick on a boat.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 暈; 晕 is its simplified writing.

日軍暈

Meaning part形符xíngfú

日日rìSun

Sound part声符shēngfú

軍

軍jūn暈yùn

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

The traditional form 暈 first drew 日 (the sun) ringed by lines for a halo, and later paired 日 with the sound part 軍. The simplified 晕 is a later abbreviation.

Open 晕 →

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

舟舟zhōuboat

Sound part声符shēngfú

㕣

㕣㕣船

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

船 pairs 舟 (boat) with 㕣 for its sound.

Open 船 →

Appears in

Illness & Symptoms