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花车 (huā chē) — parade float (decorated vehicle for a festival procession)

Definition

noun
parade float (decorated vehicle for a festival procession)
Measure word · 辆

Examples

  • 花车。
    Měi nián guó qìng jié dōu yǒu shèng dà de huā chē yóu xíng.
    Every year on National Day there is a grand parade of floats.
  • 花车。
    Zhè liàng huā chē shàng zhuāng shì le wǔ yán liù sè de huā duǒ.
    This float is decorated with colorful flowers.
  • 花车，。
    Hái zi men zhàn zài lù biān kàn huā chē, xīng fèn dé zhí pāi shǒu.
    The children stood by the roadside watching the floats, clapping excitedly.

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.

花huāflower
车chēvehicle

花 'flower' describes the decorated 车 'vehicle', making a parade float.

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
艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant
Sound part声符shēngfú
化
化huà花
Same sound today

花 pairs 艹 (grass; plant) with 化, which gives the sound.

Open 花 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 車; 车 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 車 was drawn as a carriage seen from above, with wheels on both sides and a shaft at the front; the simplified 车 is a later shorthand.

Open 车 →
Appears in
Festivals & HolidaysVehicles

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