翼手龙 (yì shǒu lóng) — pterodactyl | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

pterodactyl

Measure word · 只

Examples

翼手龙。
Wǒ zài bó wù guǎn kàn dào le yì zhī yì shǒu lóng de huà shí.
I saw a pterodactyl fossil in the museum.
翼手龙。
yì shǒu lóng Shì shēng huó zài zhū luó jì de fēi xíng pá xíng dòng wù.
Pterodactyls were flying reptiles that lived in the Jurassic period.
翼手龙。
Zhè zhǒng yì shǒu lóng de chì bǎng zhǎn kāi yǒu sān mǐ cháng.
The wingspan of this type of pterodactyl is three meters long.

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.

翼手winged hand

翼yìwing手shǒuhand

偏正Modifier + head

“翼” (wing) and “手” (hand) form “翼手”, naming a “龙” (dragon) with winged hands.

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.

羽異翼

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

異

異yì翼yì

Same sound today

翼 combines 羽 (feathers/wings) with 異, which supplies the sound.

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

手 draws a five-fingered human hand: the top line is a bent middle finger, and the horizontal lines show the other four fingers.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 龍; 龙 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 龍 originally drew a sacred creature with a large mouth and a snake-like body; the simplified 龙 is the form written here.

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