树干 (shù gàn) — tree trunk | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

The trunk — the main wooden stem of a tree, between the roots and the branches. Pairs with measure words 棵 or 株 (which classify whole trees, not trunks); the body part sense in 骨干 is metaphorical.

noun

tree trunk

Measure word · 根

Examples

树干，。
Zhè kē shù gàn hěn cū, yào liǎng gè rén cái néng bào zhù.
This tree trunk is very thick; it takes two people to wrap their arms around it.
树干。
Sōng shǔ zài shù gàn shàng tiào lái tiào qù.
The squirrel is jumping back and forth on the tree trunk.
树干。
Gōng rén bǎ shù gàn jù chéng le jǐ duàn.
The workers sawed the tree trunk into several pieces.

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 means tree and 干 means trunk, so the word names the trunk 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.

The simplified 干 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (饼干, 干杯) it is 乾; in others (干, 干活儿) (干扰) it is 幹 or 干.

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 乾; 干 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

倝

倝gàn乾gān

Same sound today

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Trees & Forest

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