TongTong
Sign in

白杨 (bái yáng) — white poplar (tree)

Definition

noun
white poplar (tree)
Measure word · 棵

Examples

  • 白杨。
    Zhè kē bái yáng zhǎng de fēi cháng gāo.
    This white poplar grows very tall.
  • 白杨。
    Lù biān zhǒng le yì pái bái yáng.
    A row of white poplars was planted along the road.
  • 白杨。
    bái yáng De yè zi zài fēng zhōng shā shā zuò xiǎng.
    The leaves of the white poplar rustle in the wind.

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báiwhite
杨yángpoplar

The tree is named with 白 (white) and 杨 (poplar), a white poplar.

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.

Open 白 →

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 楊; 杨 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mùtree, wood
Sound part声符shēngfú
昜
昜yáng楊yáng
Same sound today

The traditional form 楊 pairs 木 (tree, wood) with 昜, which gives the sound. The simplified 杨 is a later shorthand, so its right side is not the old sound part.

Open 杨 →
Appears in
Trees & Forest

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.