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行李箱 (xíng li xiāng) — suitcase; a piece of luggage

Definition

noun
suitcasea piece of luggage
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 行李箱。
    Wǒ bǎ yī fu fàng zài xíng li xiāng lǐ.
    I put the clothes in the suitcase.
  • 行李箱。
    Zhè ge xíng li xiāng hěn qīng.
    This suitcase is very light.
  • 行李箱。
    Tā lā zhe xíng li xiāng qù jī chǎng.
    He pulled the suitcase to the airport.

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.

行李luggage
行xíng李lǐ
箱xiāngbox; trunk

行李 names luggage, and 箱 names a box or trunk, together giving a trunk for luggage.

Characters in this word

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

  • 彳彳chì
  • 亍亍chù

The shape of 行 originally showed a street intersection, even on both sides. Later it became uneven, with 彳 on the left and 亍 on the right.

Open 行 →

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
子子zǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
來
來lái李lǐ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The earliest form of 李 paired 來 (wheat) with 子; the 來 part later changed into 木, giving today's shape.

Open 李 →

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
𥫗Written in full as竹zhúbamboo
Sound part声符shēngfú
相
相xiāng箱xiāng
Same sound today

箱 combines 竹, showing bamboo, with 相 as a sound part, to write a bamboo box or case.

Open 箱 →
Appears in
HSK 2.0 Level 3Travel & Tourism

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