板桥 (Bǎn qiáo) — wooden bridge; Banqiao (district in New Taipei City, Taiwan)

Definition

noun
wooden bridgeBanqiao (district in New Taipei City, Taiwan)
Measure word · 座

Examples

  • 板桥。
    Zhè zuò Bǎn qiáo shì yòng mù tou zuò de.
    This wooden bridge is made of wood.
  • 板桥。
    Wǒ zhù zài tái běi Bǎn qiáo.
    I live in Taipei Banqiao.
  • 板桥。
    Bǎn qiáo De fáng jià zuì jìn zhǎng le hěn duō.
    Housing prices in Banqiao have risen a lot recently.

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.

板bǎnplank
桥qiáobridge

板 as plank and 桥 as bridge together mean a wooden bridge.

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
木木mùtree
Sound part声符shēngfú
反
反fǎn板bǎn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

板 pairs 木 (tree) with 反 as a sound part.

Open 板 →

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 橋; 桥 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mùwood
Sound part声符shēngfú
喬
喬qiáo橋qiáo
Same sound today

The traditional form 橋 pairs 木 (wood) with 喬 (qiáo), which gave the character its sound; the simplified 桥 is a later abbreviation.

Open 桥 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.