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秋千 (qiū qiān) — swing (playground equipment)

Definition

noun
swing (playground equipment)
Measure word · 架

Examples

  • 秋千。
    Gōng yuán lǐ de qiū qiān hěn shòu hái zi men huān yíng.
    The swing in the park is very popular with children.
  • 秋千。
    Tā zài qiū qiān shàng dàng dé hěn gāo.
    She is swinging very high on the swing.
  • 秋千。
    Wǒ xiǎo shí hou zuì xǐ huan wán qiū qiān le.
    When I was young, I loved playing on the swing the most.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

秋qiū
千qiān

秋千 names a swing; 秋 and 千 carry no meaning here.

Sound-only characters

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
禾禾hégrain
Sound part声符shēngfú
𤒅
𤒅𤒅秋qiū
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape 秋 pairs 禾 (grain) with 𤒅, which gives the sound.

Open 秋 →

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
一一yīone, signifying a number
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén千qiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

千 pairs 人, whose sound was similar, with 一, a number stroke; the extra line was explained as extension, and a thousand is a number reached by extending counting.

Open 千 →
Appears in
Outdoor Recreation

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