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知更鸟 (zhī gēng niǎo) — robin

Definition

noun
robin
Measure word · 只

Examples

  • 知更鸟。
    Tā zuó tiān zài huā yuán lǐ kàn dào yì zhī zhī gēng niǎo.
    He saw a robin in the garden yesterday.
  • 知更鸟。
    zhī gēng niǎo Shì yì zhǒng cháng jiàn de niǎo lèi.
    The robin is a common type of bird.
  • 知更鸟。
    Xiǎo hái zi dōu xǐ huan tīng zhī gēng niǎo de gù shi.
    Children all like listening to stories about robins.

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.

知更know the night watch
知zhīknow更gèngnight watch
动宾Verb + object
鸟niǎobird

'知更' knowing the night watch and '鸟' together refer to a bird that announces the hours.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

An early form of 知 showed 大 (adult), 口 (mouth), and 子 (child): an adult speaking to a child to pass on knowledge. The 子 part was dropped, and the 大 part changed shape.

Open 知 →

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
攴攴pūhand holding a whip; action
Sound part声符shēngfú
𰀒
𰀒𰀒更gēng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The old form showed two chariots, 𰀒; 攴, a hand holding a whip, was added to show action, and one chariot part was dropped. The remaining part changed into the shape seen in 更.

Open 更 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 鳥; 鸟 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 鳥 came from a drawing of a bird with a dangling tail; the simplified 鸟 is a later abbreviation.

Open 鸟 →
Appears in
Birds

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