皮鞭 (pí biān) — leather whip

Definition

noun
leather whip
Measure word ·

Examples

  • 皮鞭
    Tā shǒu lǐ ná zhe yì gēn pí biān.
    He is holding a leather whip in his hand.
  • 皮鞭
    Zhè pí biān shì yòng niú pí zuò de, fēi cháng jiē shi.
    This leather whip is made of cowhide and is very sturdy.
  • 皮鞭
    Mù yáng rén huī wǔ zhe pí biān, bǎ yáng qún gǎn huí le quān lǐ.
    The shepherd waved the leather whip and drove the flock back into the pen.

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.

leather

It names a 鞭 (whip) made of 皮 (leather).

Characters in this word

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

皮 shows a hand pulling fur off an animal pelt, with the pelt drawn at the upper left.

Open 皮 →

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
leather
Sound part声符shēngfú
便
便biànbiān
Same sound today

鞭 pairs 革, meaning leather, with 便, which gives the sound.

Open 鞭 →

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