烽火台 (fēng huǒ tāi) — beacon tower

Definition

A beacon tower from ancient China, used along the border to send military signals with smoke by day and fire by night. It is a specific type of historical landmark, not a general word for tower.

noun
beacon tower
Measure word · 座

Examples

  • 烽火台。
    Gǔ dài de fēng huǒ tāi shì yòng lái chuán dì xìn xī de.
    Beacon towers in ancient times were used to transmit messages.
  • 烽火台，。
    Zhè zuò fēng huǒ tāi jiàn yú míng cháo, zhì jīn bǎo cún wán hǎo.
    This beacon tower was built in the Ming Dynasty and is still well-preserved.
  • 烽火台。
    Cóng shān dǐng shàng néng kàn dào yuǎn chù de fēng huǒ tāi.
    From the mountaintop you can see the beacon tower in the distance.

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.

烽火beacon fire
烽fēngbeacon fire火huǒfire
联合Side by side
台táitower

'烽' and '火' together mean beacon fire, and '台' is a tower, so the word names a beacon tower.

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
火火huǒfire
Sound part声符shēngfú
夆
夆páng烽fēng
Same sound today

烽 is built from 火, showing fire, plus 夆, which provides the sound.

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

火 is a simple drawing of a fire, with flames shown rising upward.

Open 火 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 臺; 台 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 台 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (窗台, 电视台) it is 臺; in others (台灯, 台球) (台风) it is 檯 or 台 or 颱.

The traditional form 臺 is the 喬 + 室 form; earlier versions combined a sound part with 室, and an old reading saw it as a watch tower.

Open 台 →

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