腕骨 (wàn gū) — carpal bone | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

carpal bone

Measure word · 块

Examples

腕骨。
Yī shēng shuō wǒ zuǒ shǒu de wàn gū yǒu xiē sǔn shāng.
The doctor said there's some damage to the carpal bones in my left hand.
腕骨。
wàn gū Shì shǒu wàn de zhòng yào zǔ chéng bù fen.
The carpal bones are an important part of the wrist.
腕骨。
Diē dǎo shí tā de wàn gū gǔ zhé le.
He fractured his carpal bone when he fell.

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.

腕 (wrist) and 骨 (bone) combine to mean a bone of the wrist.

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

⺼Written in full as肉ròumeat, body part

Sound part声符shēngfú

宛

宛wǎn腕wàn

Same sound today

腕 pairs ⺼ (meat/body part) with 宛, which gives the sound; the ⺼ part marks it as a body part.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

冎

冎guǎ骨gǔ

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The older form 冎 drew a bone; 肉, flesh, was added to make 骨.

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