树冠 (shù guān) — crown (of a tree); treetop | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

crown (of a tree)treetop

Measure word · 个

Examples

树冠。
Zhè kē lǎo shù de shù guān fēi cháng mào shèng.
The crown of this old tree is very lush.
树冠。
Bào fēng yǔ bǎ shù guān shàng de shù zhī dōu chuī duàn le.
The storm broke all the branches on the treetop.
树冠。
Cóng fēi jī shàng kě yǐ kàn dào zhěng piàn sēn lín de shù guān.
From the plane you can see the crowns of the whole forest.

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.

树 is a tree and 冠 is a crown, giving the crown of a tree.

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 樹; 树 is its simplified writing.

木尌樹

Meaning part形符xíngfú

木木mùtree

Sound part声符shēngfú

尌

尌shù樹shù

Same sound today

Originally 尌, 'to plant a tree', was written alone; the traditional form 樹 adds 木, 'tree', to it to differentiate.

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

冖元寸冠

Meaning part形符xíngfú

冖冖mìhat

寸寸cùnhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

元

元yuán冠guàn

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

冠 shows a hand putting a hat on a head: 寸 is the hand, 冖 is the hat, and 元 is the head.

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