葡萄牙人 (Pú táo yá rén) — Portuguese (person from Portugal)

Definition

noun
Portuguese (person from Portugal)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 葡萄牙人。
    Zhè wèi Pú táo yá rén shì wǒ de lǎo shī.
    This Portuguese person is my teacher.
  • 葡萄牙人。
    Zuó tiān wǒ rèn shi le yí gè Pú táo yá rén.
    Yesterday I met a Portuguese person.
  • 葡萄牙人？
    Nǐ jiàn guò Pú táo yá rén ma?
    Have you ever met a Portuguese person?

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.

葡萄牙Portugal
葡pú萄táo牙yá
人rénperson

A 人 (person) from 葡萄牙 (Portugal).

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
艸艸cǎograss
Sound part声符shēngfú
匍
匍pú葡
Same sound today

葡 is built from 艸 (grass) plus 匍 as the sound part. For the grape meaning, the old explanation also links it to a sprout growing in a field, so the shape points to plants.

Open 葡 →

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cǎo
Sound part声符shēngfú
匋
匋táo萄
Same sound today

The top 艹 marks 萄 as a plant, and 匋 gives its sound. The part 匋 also points to making an earthenware jar, possibly for a plant used to make wine.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 牙 →

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →

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