横穿 (héng chuān) — to cross (a road, street, etc.); to traverse

Definition

verb

to cross (a road, street, etc.)to traverse

横穿，。
Bú yào héng chuān mǎ lù, yào zǒu rén xíng héng dào.
Don't jaywalk; use the crosswalk.
横穿。
Tā xiǎo xīn dì héng chuān le yì tiáo dà lù.
He carefully crossed a wide road.
横穿。
héng chuān Gāo sù gōng lù hěn wēi xiǎn.
It's very dangerous to cross a highway.

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.

穿chuānpass through

横 'across' plus 穿 'pass through' means crossing from side to side.

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 橫; 横 is its simplified writing.

木黃橫

Meaning part形符xíngfú

木木mùwood

Sound part声符shēngfú

黃

黃huáng橫héng

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

The traditional form 橫 has 木, meaning wood, beside 黃, which supplies the sound; the simplified 横 is a later abbreviation.

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

穴牙穿

穿 puts 穴 (cave) and 牙 (tooth) together to show passing through or penetrating.

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