红牛 (hóng niú) — Red Bull (energy drink) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

Red Bull (energy drink)

Examples

红牛。
Wǒ hē le yí guàn hóng niú.
I drank a can of Red Bull.
红牛。
hóng niú Shì yì zhǒng hěn shòu huān yíng de yǐn liào.
Red Bull is a very popular drink.
红牛。
Tā bǐ sài qián hē le yì píng hóng niú.
He drank a bottle of Red Bull before the competition.

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.

红 'red' and 牛 'bull' name the drink.

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 紅; 红 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

糸糸mìsilk

Sound part声符shēngfú

工

工gōng紅hóng

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 紅 puts 糸 (silk) next to 工, which gives the sound; the simplified 红 is a later shorthand.

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

牛 is drawn as a bull's head, with two horns and two ears.

Appears in

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