粪桶 (fèn tǒng) — manure bucket; night-soil bucket

Definition

noun

manure bucketnight-soil bucket

Measure word · 只

粪桶。
Tā tiāo zhe fèn tǒng qù cài dì shī féi.
He carried the manure bucket to the vegetable field to fertilize.
粪桶，。
Zhè fèn tǒng yòu zāng yòu chòu, kuài ná chū qù xǐ shuā gān jìng.
This manure bucket is dirty and smelly; take it out and scrub it clean quickly.
粪桶，。
Yǐ qián nóng cūn měi jiā dōu yǒu yí gè fèn tǒng, yòng lái shōu jí nóng jiā féi.
In the past, every rural household had a manure bucket for collecting farmyard manure.

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.

粪 means manure and 桶 means bucket, giving a bucket for manure.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 糞; 粪 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 糞 is built from 釆, 𠦒, and 廾; the simplified 粪 is a later abbreviation.

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

木甬桶

Meaning part形符xíngfú

木木mùwood

Sound part声符shēngfú

甬

甬yǒng桶tǒng

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

The left part 木 shows wood, and the right part 甬 gives the sound.