童 (tóng) — child (morpheme, typically used in compounds)
Definition
童 is a bound morpheme meaning 'child', almost never used alone. It appears in compounds such as 童话, 童年, and 童谣 to mean fairy tale, childhood, and nursery rhyme.
bound form
child (morpheme, typically used in compounds)
Examples
- 。Hái zi men dōu xǐ huan tīng tóng huà.Children all like to listen to fairy tales.
- 。tóng Nián shì yí gè rén chéng zhǎng de zhòng yào jiē duàn.Childhood is an important stage of a person's growth.
- 。Zhè shǒu tóng yáo hěn hǎo tīng.This nursery rhyme is very pleasant to listen to.
Origin
Compound ideograph六书liùshū
会意huìyìTwo or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.
- 䇂䇂䇂chisel
- 見見jiànkneeling person with a huge eye
The form 童 comes from a pairing of 䇂 (a chisel) with 見 (a kneeling person with a huge eye), depicting a person having an eye gouged out.
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