查号台 (chá hào tái) — directory assistance; telephone information ope…

Definition

noun

directory assistancetelephone information operator

Measure word · 个

查号台。
Nǐ kě yǐ dǎ chá hào tái wèn diàn huà hào mǎ.
You can call directory assistance to ask for a phone number.
查号台。
chá hào tái De jiē xiàn yuán bāng wǒ chá dào le nà jiā gōng sī de diàn huà.
The information operator helped me find the phone number of that company.
查号台。
Tā tōng guò chá hào tái zhǎo dào le lǎo péng you de diàn huà hào mǎ.
He found his old friend's phone number through directory assistance.

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.

查号look up numbers

动宾Verb + object

查号 means looking up numbers, and 台 is the desk where that service happens.

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mùwood

Sound part声符shēngfú

且

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

查 pairs 木 (wood) with 且, which shows the sound. It originally meant a hawthorn tree or a wooden raft.

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

口丂号

The shape 号 comes from 口, a mouth, and 丂, exhaled air or a tiger's cry.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 臺; 台 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 台 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (窗台, 电视台) it is 臺; in others (台灯, 台球) (台风) it is 檯 or 台 or 颱.

The traditional form 臺 is the 喬 + 室 form; earlier versions combined a sound part with 室, and an old reading saw it as a watch tower.