潜水衣 (qián shuǐ yī) — diving suit | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

diving suit

Measure word · 件

Examples

潜水衣。
Tā mǎi le yí jiàn xīn de qián shuǐ yī.
He bought a new diving suit.
潜水衣。
Chuān shàng qián shuǐ yī cái néng xià shuǐ.
You have to put on a diving suit before you can go into the water.
潜水衣。
Zhè tào qián shuǐ yī de zhì liàng hěn hǎo.
The quality of this diving suit is very good.

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.

潜水dive

潜qiándive水shuǐwater

动宾Verb + object

衣yīgarment

潜水 means diving under water and 衣 means garment, so it names a diving suit.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 潛; 潜 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

朁

朁cǎn潛qián

Same sound today

The form 潛 has 水 as a meaning part and 朁 as a sound part; this note is about 潛, not the simplified 潜.

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

水 is a simple drawing of water flowing.

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

The shape of 衣 comes from an outline of the chest and upper clothing.

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