街灯 (jiē dēng) — street lamp | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

street lamp

Measure word · 盏

街灯。
Yè wǎn de jiē dēng bǎ dào lù zhào dé hěn liàng.
The street lamps light up the road brightly at night.
街灯。
jiē dēng Xià zhàn zhe yí gè děng chē de rén.
A person waiting for the bus is standing under the street lamp.
街灯LED。
Zhè tiáo jiē de jiē dēng shì gāng huàn de LED dēng.
The street lamps on this street are newly replaced LED lights.

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.

街 means street and 灯 means lamp, together naming a lamp placed on a street.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

圭

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

街 combines 行 and 圭: 行 is the meaning part, and 圭 is the sound part. Originally, 圭 drew a pair of ritual axes, not earth.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

火丁灯

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

丁

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

灯 pairs 火, which shows fire, with 丁, which gives the sound.