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街车 (jiē chē) — trolley; streetcar

Definition

noun
trolleystreetcar
Measure word · 辆

Examples

  • 街车。
    Wǒ měi tiān zuò jiē chē shàng bān.
    I take the streetcar to work every day.
  • 街车。
    Zhè liàng jiē chē cóng shì zhōng xīn kāi dào chéng wài.
    This streetcar runs from the city center to outside the city.
  • 街车，。
    Jiù jīn shān de jiē chē hěn yǒu míng, yóu kè dōu xǐ huan zuò.
    San Francisco's streetcars are famous; tourists like to ride them.

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.

街jiēstreet
车chēvehicle

街车 joins 街 (street) and 车 (vehicle): a vehicle running on the 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
行行xíng
Sound part声符shēngfú
圭
圭guī街jiē
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.

Open 街 →

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
Vehicles

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