篮球赛 (lán qiú sài) — basketball match; basketball game | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

basketball matchbasketball game

Measure word · 场

Examples

篮球赛。
Jīn wǎn yǒu yì chǎng jīng cǎi de lán qiú sài.
There's a wonderful basketball match tonight.
篮球赛？
lán qiú sài Shén me shí hou kāi shǐ?
When does the basketball game start?
篮球赛。
Tā men yíng le zuó tiān de lán qiú sài.
They won yesterday's basketball match.

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.

篮球basketball

篮lánbasket球qiúball

偏正Modifier + head

篮球 is the ball game and 赛 is a contest, so a basketball contest.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 籃; 篮 is its simplified writing.

竹監籃

Meaning part形符xíngfú

竹竹zhúbamboo

Sound part声符shēngfú

監

監jiān籃lán

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

The traditional form 籃 puts 竹 (bamboo) over 監, which gives the sound; the simplified 篮 is a later shorthand.

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

玉玉yùjade

Sound part声符shēngfú

求

求qiú球qiú

Same sound today

球 is built from 玉, meaning jade, and 求, which gives the sound.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 賽; 赛 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

貝貝bèishell

Sound part声符shēngfú

塞

塞sāi賽sài

Same sound today

The traditional form 賽 uses 貝 (shell) for meaning and 塞 for sound. The simplified 赛 is a later shorthand.

Appears in

Ball Games Sports & Athletics

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