球类 (qiú lèi) — ball games, ball sports (as a category)

Definition

noun
ball gamesball sports (as a category)

Examples

  • 球类，。
    Tā zuì xǐ huan qiú lèi yùn dòng, yóu qí shì lán qiú hé zú qiú.
    He likes ball sports the most, especially basketball and soccer.
  • 球类，。
    Xué xiào kāi shè le duō zhǒng qiú lèi kè chéng, gòng xué shēng xuǎn zé.
    The school offers a variety of ball game courses for students to choose from.
  • 球类。
    qiú lèi Bǐ sài tōng cháng xū yào tuán duì hé zuò cái néng huò shèng.
    Ball game competitions usually require teamwork to win.

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.

球qiúball
类lèicategory

球 names balls, and 类 sorts them into a category.

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
玉玉yùjade
Sound part声符shēngfú
求
求qiú球qiú
Same sound today

球 is built from 玉, meaning jade, and 求, which gives the sound.

Open 球 →

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 類; 类 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
犬犬quǎn
Sound part声符shēngfú
頪
頪lèi類lèi
Same sound today

The traditional form 類 pairs 犬, which relates to the meaning, with 頪, which gives the sound. The simplified 类 is a shorthand, and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 类 →

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