浮游生物 (fú yóu shēng wù) — plankton | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

plankton

Examples

浮游生物。
Hǎi yáng zhōng de fú yóu shēng wù shì xǔ duō yú lèi de zhǔ yào shí wù lái yuán.
Plankton in the ocean is the main food source for many fish.
浮游生物。
Kē xué jiā men zhèng zài yán jiū fú yóu shēng wù duì qì hòu biàn huà de yǐng xiǎng.
Scientists are studying the impact of plankton on climate change.
浮游生物，。
Suī rán fú yóu shēng wù hěn xiǎo, dàn tā men zài shēng tài xì tǒng zhōng fēi cháng zhòng yào.
Although plankton is very small, it is very important in the ecosystem.

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.

浮游floating and drifting

浮fúfloat游yóudrift

联合Coordinate

生物living thing

生shēnglife物wùthing

偏正Modifier + head

浮游 describes floating and drifting, 生物 names living things, together meaning organisms that drift.

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

水水shuǐriver

Sound part声符shēngfú

孚

孚fú浮fú

Same sound today

浮 pairs 水 (river) with 孚, which gives the sound; the river part points to its meaning of floating.

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

水水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

斿

斿yóu游yóu

Same sound today

游 combines 水 (water) with 斿, which gives the sound yóu and also relates to travelling.

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

屮屮chèbud
一一yīground

生 shows 屮 (a bud) above 一 (the ground), drawing a sprout coming up from the earth.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

牛勿物

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

勿

勿wù物wù

Same sound today

物 puts 牛 beside 勿: 牛 gives the meaning, and 勿 gives the sound.

Appears in

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