行李车 (xíng li chē) — baggage car, luggage car

Definition

noun
baggage carluggage car
Measure word · 辆

Examples

  • 行李车。
    Huǒ chē zuì hòu yì jié shì xíng li chē.
    The last car of the train is the baggage car.
  • 行李车。
    xíng li chē Shàng zhuāng mǎn le lǚ kè de xiāng zi.
    The luggage car is packed with passengers' suitcases.
  • 行李车。
    Qǐng bǎ dà jiàn xíng li fàng dào xíng li chē.
    Please put large luggage items in the baggage car.

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baggage
行xíng李lǐ
车chēvehicle

行李车 is a 车, a vehicle that carries 行李, baggage or 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 →

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 →

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