船位 (chuán wèi) — ship's position (at sea); (ship) accommodations, cabin space

Definition

A specialized nautical term that can mean either the ship's geographical position at sea or its passenger/cabin space. Sense depends on context: GPS/导航 uses 'position'; 宽敞/预订 uses 'cabin accommodations'.

noun
ship's position (at sea)(ship) accommodationscabin space

Examples

  • GPS船位。
    Chuán zhǎng zhèng zài yòng GPS què dìng chuán wèi.
    The captain is using GPS to determine the ship's position.
  • 船位。
    Zhè sōu yóu lún de chuán wèi hěn kuān chang.
    The accommodations on this cruise ship are very spacious.
  • 船位。
    Wǒ men xū yào bào gào dāng qián de chuán wèi.
    We need to report the current ship's position.

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.

船chuánship
位wèiposition

船 names the ship, and 位 is its position or space aboard.

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
舟舟zhōuboat
Sound part声符shēngfú
㕣
㕣㕣船
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

船 pairs 舟 (boat) with 㕣 for its sound.

Open 船 →

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
人人rénman
Sound part声符shēngfú
立
立lì位wèi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

位 combines 人 (man), related to people, with 立, which gives the sound. It was often simply written as 立.

Open 位 →

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