煤车 (méi chē) — coal car; coal truck

Definition

noun
coal carcoal truck
Measure word · 辆

Examples

  • 煤车。
    Nà liàng méi chē zhèng zài xiè méi.
    That coal car is unloading coal.
  • 煤车。
    Huǒ chē zhàn tíng zhe hěn duō méi chē.
    Many coal cars are parked at the train station.
  • 煤车。
    Zhè xiē méi chē měi tiān yùn sòng dà liàng de méi.
    These coal cars transport a large amount of coal every day.

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.

煤méicoal
车chēcar

煤 “coal” and 车 “car” combine to mean a coal car.

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
某
某mǒu煤méi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

煤 puts 火 (fire) on the left and 某 on the right; the fire part relates to coal, and 某 gives the sound.

Open 煤 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 車; 车 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 車 was drawn as a carriage seen from above, with wheels on both sides and a shaft at the front; the simplified 车 is a later shorthand.

Open 车 →

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