胳 (gā) — (bound morpheme) armpit (only in 胳肢窝)
Definition
胳 (gā) is a bound morpheme used only in the compound 胳肢窝 'armpit'. It never stands alone — pair it with 腋 (yè) for the more formal/literary 单字 腋.
bound form
(bound morpheme) armpit (only in 胳肢窝)
Easily confused
- 咯gēlook-alikecough up; spit
- 伽gāsound-alike(character) used to transliterate the sound 'ga' in foreign loanwords
- 路lùlook-alikeroad (a street or path)
- 嘎gāsound-alike(onomatopoeia) cackle, squawk, creak; sharp noise
- 硌gèlook-aliketo cause pain by pressing (of a hard or bulging object against a body part)
- 咖gāsound-alike(bound morpheme) used in the word 咖喱 (gālí, curry)
Examples
- 。Tā de gā zhi wō hěn yǎng.His armpit is very itchy.
- ，。Pǎo bù zhī hòu, gā zhi wō chū le hěn duō hàn.After running, his armpit sweated a lot.
- 。Yī shēng jiǎn chá le tā de gā zhi wō.The doctor examined his armpit.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.
It combines 肉 (flesh) with 各; the 肉 part relates to the body, and 各 gives the sound.
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