管道工 (guǎn dào gōng) — plumber | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

plumber

Measure word · 个

Examples

，管道工。
Wǒ jiā shuǐ guǎn huài le, xū yào qǐng yí gè guǎn dào gōng lái xiū.
Our water pipe at home is broken, so we need to call a plumber to fix it.
管道工，。
Zhè wèi guǎn dào gōng jì shù hěn hǎo, hěn kuài jiù xiū hǎo le.
This plumber is very skilled and fixed it quickly.
管道工，。
Wèi le chéng wéi yì míng hé gé de guǎn dào gōng, tā xué xí le sān nián.
In order to become a qualified plumber, he studied for three years.

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.

管道pipe

管guǎnpipe道dàochannel

联合Coordinate

管道 names the pipes and channels a 工 works on, hence plumber.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

竹官管

Meaning part形符xíngfú

竹竹zhúbamboo

Sound part声符shēngfú

官

官guān管guǎn

Same sound today

管 has 竹 (bamboo) on top to show it relates to bamboo, and 官 gives its sound.

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

行行xíngstreet

止止zhǐfoot

Sound part声符shēngfú

𩠐

首shǒu道dào

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

Early 道 showed a street 行, a foot 止, and a part written 首 or 𩠐; the right part of 行 later disappeared.

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

The shape of 工 is a picture of a bladed tool used to plow ground or mark a border; some read it as a carpenter's square.

Appears in

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