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胳膊肘 (gē bo zhǒu) — elbow

Definition

noun
elbow
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • ，胳膊肘，。
    Tā dǎ qiú shí bù xiǎo xīn shuāi dǎo le, gē bo zhǒu zhuàng dào le dì shàng, hěn téng.
    He accidentally fell while playing ball and his elbow hit the ground, hurting a lot.
  • 胳膊肘，。
    Nǐ de gē bo zhǒu bú yào fàng zài zhuō zi shàng, zhè yàng bù lǐ mào.
    Don't put your elbow on the table; it's impolite.
  • 胳膊肘。
    Tā de gē bo zhǒu bèi wén zi yǎo le yí gè bāo.
    His elbow was bitten by a mosquito and got a bump.

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.

胳膊arm
胳gēarm膊bóarm
联合Coordinate
肘zhǒuelbow

胳膊 names the arm and 肘 names the elbow, so it means the elbow.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
肉肉ròuflesh
Sound part声符shēngfú
各
各gè胳
Same sound today

It combines 肉 (flesh) with 各; the 肉 part relates to the body, and 各 gives the sound.

Open 胳 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
肉肉ròubody
Sound part声符shēngfú
尃
尃fū膊bó
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

膊 combines 肉, meaning body, with 尃, which gives the sound.

Open 膊 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
肉肉ròu
Sound part声符shēngfú
寸
寸cùn肘zhǒu
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The old form of 肘 drew a hand with a line marking the elbow. Because it looked like 寸, 肉 was added to tell the two shapes apart.

Open 肘 →
Appears in
Body Parts

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