步行街 (bù xíng jiē) — pedestrian street, pedestrianized street (close…

Definition

noun

pedestrian streetpedestrianized street (closed to vehicles for shopping or walking)

Measure word · 条

步行街，。
Zhè tiáo bù xíng jiē jìn zhǐ chē liàng tōng xíng, hěn shì hé sàn bù.
This pedestrian street is closed to vehicles and great for a stroll.
步行街。
Zhōu mò de bù xíng jiē shàng jǐ mǎn le yóu kè hé dāng dì rén.
On weekends the pedestrian street is packed with tourists and locals.
步行街。
Wǒ men zài bù xíng jiē lǐ guàng le zhěng zhěng yí gè xià wǔ.
We spent a whole afternoon browsing on the pedestrian street.

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.

步行walk

联合Side by side

步行, 'walking', describes how the 街 is used: a street for walking.

Characters in this word

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

止止步

步 uses two 止 (foot) forms, one reversed, to show one foot stepping in front of the other.

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

彳亍行

The shape of 行 originally showed a street intersection, even on both sides. Later it became uneven, with 彳 on the left and 亍 on the right.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

圭

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

街 combines 行 and 圭: 行 is the meaning part, and 圭 is the sound part. Originally, 圭 drew a pair of ritual axes, not earth.