白熊 (bái xióng) — polar bear | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

polar bear

Measure word · 只

白熊。
Wǒ zài dòng wù yuán kàn dào yì zhī bái xióng.
I saw a polar bear at the zoo.
白熊。
bái xióng Shēng huó zài hěn lěng de dì fāng.
Polar bears live in very cold places.
白熊。
Zhè zhī bái xióng zhèng zài yóu yǒng.
This polar bear is swimming.

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 describes the color, and 熊 names the bear.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

炎

炎yán熊xióng

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

熊 is made of 能 and 炎. It originally represented a word for raging flame; when 能 was borrowed for another word, 熊 came to write 'bear'.