留声机 (liú shēng jī) — gramophone; phonograph | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

gramophonephonograph

Measure word · 台

Examples

留声机。
Yé ye jiā lǐ hái yǒu yì tái lǎo liú shēng jī.
Grandpa still has an old gramophone at home.
留声机。
Zhè tái liú shēng jī néng fàng chū hěn měi dì yīn yuè.
This phonograph can play very beautiful music.
留声机。
Bó wù guǎn lǐ zhǎn chū le zǎo qī de liú shēng jī.
The museum is exhibiting early gramophones.

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.

留声retain sound

留liúretain声shēngsound

动宾Verb + object

机jīmachine

A machine that retains sound.

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

田田tiánfield

Sound part声符shēngfú

卯

卯mǎo留liú

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

留 combines 田 (field) with 卯, which gives the sound.

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 聲; 声 is its simplified writing.

殸耳聲

Meaning part形符xíngfú

耳耳ěrear

Sound part声符shēngfú

殸

殸qìng聲shēng

Same sound today

The traditional form 聲 pairs 耳 (ear) with 殸 as a sound part; the simplified 声 is a shorthand and does not show those original parts.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

木几机

Meaning part形符xíngfú

木木mùtree; wood

Sound part声符shēngfú

几

几jǐ机jī

Same sound today

The left part is 木 (tree; wood), and the right part 几 gives the sound.

Appears in

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