泥瓦匠 (ní wǎ jiàng) — bricklayer; tiler; plasterer | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A tradesperson who works with brick, tile, and plaster — 'bricklayer' is the most common single-word gloss. Translates the three roles in one term rather than three separate jobs.

noun

bricklayertilerplasterer

Measure word · 个

Examples

泥瓦匠，。
Zhè wèi ní wǎ jiàng shǒu yì hěn hǎo, qiáng qì dé hěn zhí.
This bricklayer has great skill; the wall is built very straight.
泥瓦匠，。
Tā dāng le èr shí nián ní wǎ jiàng, jīng yàn hěn fēng fù.
He has worked as a tiler for twenty years and has a lot of experience.
泥瓦匠。
Xīn fáng zi xū yào zhǎo jǐ gè ní wǎ jiàng lái pù cí zhuān.
The new house needs to find a few plasterers to lay the tiles.

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.

泥瓦mud and tile

泥nímud瓦wǎtile

联合Side by side

匠jiàngcraftsman

泥 and 瓦 name mud and tile work, and 匠 names the craftsman.

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.

氵尼泥

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

尼

尼ní泥nì

Same sound today

The left side is 氵, the water part; the right side is 尼, which gives the sound.

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

瓦’s shape is a picture of fired earthenware pottery or a tile.

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

匚斤匠

匚匚fāngbox
斤斤jīnaxe

Traditionally, 匠 combines 匚, a box, with 斤, an axe.

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