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电话本 (diàn huà běn) — telephone directory, phone book

Definition

noun
telephone directoryphone book
Measure word · 本

Examples

  • 电话本。
    Wǒ zài diàn huà běn lǐ zhǎo dào le tā de hào mǎ.
    I found her number in the phone book.
  • 电话本，。
    Xiàn zài hěn shǎo yǒu rén yòng diàn huà běn le, dà jiā dōu yòng shǒu jī.
    Nowadays few people use phone books; everyone uses mobile phones.
  • 电话本，。
    Zhè běn diàn huà běn shì shí nián qián de, hěn duō hào mǎ yǐ jīng gǎi le.
    This phone book is from ten years ago; many numbers have changed.

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.

电话telephone
电diànelectric话huàspeech
偏正Modifier + head
本běnbook

电话 (telephone) + 本 (book) forms a book of telephone numbers.

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 電; 电 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
雨雨yǔrain
Sound part声符shēngfú
申
申shēn電diàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

For the traditional form 電, 雨 (rain) sits with 申, read shēn and meaning lightning.

Open 电 →

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 話; 话 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánword
Sound part声符shēngfú
𠯑
𠯑𠯑話huà
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 話, 言 relates to words and 𠯑 gives the sound; the simplified 话 is a shorthand, so its right side is not that sound part.

Open 话 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

本 adds a stroke at the bottom of a tree shape to mark the roots, giving the sense of foundation or original.

Open 本 →
Appears in
Phones & Telecom

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