白喉 (bái hóu) — diphtheria | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

diphtheria

Examples

白喉，。
Hái zi jiē zhòng le bái hóu yì miáo, kě yǐ yù fáng zhè zhǒng bìng.
The child received the diphtheria vaccine, which can prevent this disease.
，白喉。
Zài guò qù, bái hóu shì yì zhǒng hěn cháng jiàn de chuán rǎn bìng.
In the past, diphtheria was a very common infectious disease.
白喉。
Dé le bái hóu de bìng rén xū yào lì jí zhù yuàn zhì liáo.
Patients who contract diphtheria need immediate hospitalization.

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.

白 and 喉 combine to name a disease associated with a whitish throat membrane.

Characters in this word

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

白 is thought to picture either an acorn or a human head.

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

口侯喉

Meaning part形符xíngfú

口口kǒumouth

Sound part声符shēngfú

侯

侯hóu喉hóu

Same sound today

喉 combines 口, a mouth, with 侯, which gives its sound.

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