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纸条 (zhǐ tiáo) — paper strip, slip of paper

Definition

noun
paper stripslip of paper
Measure word · 张

Examples

  • 纸条，“”。
    Tā gěi wǒ liú le yì zhāng zhǐ tiáo, shàng miàn xiě zhe "míng tiān jiàn".
    He left me a slip of paper that said "See you tomorrow".
  • 纸条。
    Qǐng bǎ zhǐ tiáo shàng de xìn xī jì xià lái.
    Please write down the information on the slip of paper.
  • 纸条。
    Tā bǎ zhǐ tiáo zhé chéng le yí gè xīn xíng.
    She folded the paper strip into a heart shape.

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.

纸zhǐpaper
条tiáostrip

纸 means paper and 条 means strip, so the word names a small strip of paper.

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 紙; 纸 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糸糸mìsilk
Sound part声符shēngfú
氏
氏shì紙zhǐ
Same sound today

For 纸, the traditional form 紙 combines 糸 (silk) with 氏 (the sound part).

Open 纸 →

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 條; 条 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mù
Sound part声符shēngfú
攸
攸yōu條tiáo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 條 pairs 木, a small branch or stick, with 攸, which shows a person warned by a hand holding a stick, as a sound part; 条 is a later shortened shape.

Open 条 →
Appears in
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