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老爷车 (lǎo yé chē) — classic car, vintage car

Definition

noun
classic carvintage car
Measure word · 辆

Examples

  • 老爷车。
    Zhè liàng lǎo yé chē hěn zhí qián.
    This classic car is very valuable.
  • 老爷车。
    lǎo yé chē Zài zhǎn lǎn shàng xī yǐn le hěn duō rén de zhù yì.
    The classic car attracted a lot of attention at the exhibition.
  • 老爷车。
    Wǒ yé ye yǒu yí liàng lǎo shì de lǎo yé chē.
    My grandfather has an old-style classic car.

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.

老爷old master
老lǎoold爷yémaster
偏正Modifier + head
车chēvehicle

The 老爷 part evokes an old master, and the 车 is a vehicle, giving a classic car.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The shape 老 combines 人 (man), 毛 (hair), and 匕 (cane), showing a man with long hair leaning on a cane.

Open 老 →

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 爺; 爷 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
父父fùfather
Sound part声符shēngfú
耶
耶yē爺yé
Same sound today

The traditional form 爺 combines 父, meaning father, with 耶 as a sound part; the simplified 爷 is a later shorthand, so its visible pieces do not carry that original role.

Open 爷 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 車; 车 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 車 was drawn as a carriage seen from above, with wheels on both sides and a shaft at the front; the simplified 车 is a later shorthand.

Open 车 →
Appears in
Vehicles

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