橡皮船 (xiàng pí chuán) — rubber boat | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

rubber boat

Measure word · 条

Examples

橡皮船。
Wǒ men zū le yì tiáo xiàng pí chuán zài hú shàng wán le yì tiān.
We rented a rubber boat and played on the lake for a day.
橡皮船，。
xiàng pí chuán Suī rán qīng biàn, dàn zài dà fēng zhōng bú tài wěn dìng.
Although rubber boats are lightweight, they are not very stable in strong winds.
橡皮船。
Jiù yuán rén yuán yòng xiàng pí chuán bǎ yóu kè ān quán sòng dào le àn shàng.
The rescuers used a rubber boat to safely bring the tourists to shore.

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.

橡皮rubber

橡xiàngrubber tree皮pískin

偏正Modifier + head

橡皮 means rubber, and 船 means boat; together they name a boat made of rubber.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

皮 shows a hand pulling fur off an animal pelt, with the pelt drawn at the upper left.

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

舟舟zhōuboat

Sound part声符shēngfú

㕣

㕣㕣船

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

船 pairs 舟 (boat) with 㕣 for its sound.

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