白鹤 (bái hè) — white crane (especially the Siberian white crane, Grus leucogeranus)

Definition

noun
white crane (especially the Siberian white crane, Grus leucogeranus)
Measure word · 只

Examples

  • 白鹤，。
    bái hè Fēi guò hú miàn, zī tài shí fēn yōu měi.
    The white crane flew across the lake with a very graceful posture.
  • 白鹤。
    Bǎo hù qū de gōng zuò rén yuán zhèng zài guān chá yì qún bái hè.
    Staff at the reserve are observing a flock of white cranes.
  • 白鹤。
    Hái zi men yòng huà bǐ zài zhǐ shàng huà le yì zhī bái hè.
    The children drew a white crane on paper with paintbrushes.

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
鹤hècrane

白鹤 is a crane with white plumage.

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 鶴; 鹤 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
鳥鳥niǎo
Sound part声符shēngfú
寉
寉hè鶴hè
Same sound today

The traditional form 鶴 has 鳥, a bird, for the meaning and 寉 for the sound; the simplified 鹤 is a later shorthand, and its parts are not the historical parts.

Open 鹤 →

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