洋房 (yáng fáng) — Western-style house or villa (in a Chinese context, especially from the early 20th century)

Definition

noun
Western-style house or villa (in a Chinese context, especially from the early 20th century)
Measure word · 座

Examples

  • 洋房。
    Zhè zuò yáng fáng jiàn yú shàng shì jì èr shí nián dài.
    This Western-style house was built in the 1920s.
  • 洋房。
    Shàng hǎi yǒu hěn duō lǎo yáng fáng hěn piào liang.
    Shanghai has many old Western-style houses that are very beautiful.
  • 洋房。
    Tā men mǎi le yí dòng yáng fáng dāng dù jià wū.
    They bought a Western-style villa as a vacation home.

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.

洋yángforeign
房fánghouse

洋 (foreign) specifies the kind of 房 (house).

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
羊
羊yáng洋yáng
Same sound today

洋 pairs 氵, the water part, with 羊 to give its sound.

Open 洋 →

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
戶戶hùdoor
Sound part声符shēngfú
方
方fāng房fáng
Same sound today

房 pairs 戶 (door) with 方 (fāng) as a sound part; 方 can also fit 'side,' as in a side room beside the main room.

Open 房 →

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