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船尾 (chuán wěi) — stern (of a boat or ship)

Definition

noun
stern (of a boat or ship)

Examples

  • 船尾。
    chuán wěi Zài chuán de hòu miàn.
    The stern is at the back of the boat.
  • 船尾。
    Tā zhàn zài chuán wěi kàn hǎi.
    He stood at the stern looking at the sea.
  • 船尾。
    chuán wěi Yǒu yí gè xiǎo chuāng hu.
    There is a small window at the stern.

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chuánboat
尾wěitail

船 gives the vessel and 尾 gives its tail, so it means the stern.

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 →

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

The form 尾 combines 尸 (person) and 毛 (hair; feather).

Open 尾 →
Appears in
Boats & Water Travel

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