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车道 (chē dào) — traffic lane; vehicle lane

Definition

noun
traffic lanevehicle lane
Measure word · 条

Examples

  • 。
    Kāi chē shí bú yào pín fán huàn chē dào.
    Don't change lanes frequently while driving.
  • 车道。
    Zhè tiáo chē dào zhǐ néng zǒu gōng jiāo chē.
    This lane is for buses only.
  • 。
    Gāo sù gōng lù zuì zuǒ biān shì kuài chē dào.
    The leftmost lane on the highway is the fast lane.

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.

车chēvehicle
道dàoroad/lane

车 names vehicles, and 道 is the road or lane, so this is a lane for vehicles.

Characters in this word

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 →

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xíngstreet
止止zhǐfoot
Sound part声符shēngfú
𩠐
首shǒu道dào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

Early 道 showed a street 行, a foot 止, and a part written 首 or 𩠐; the right part of 行 later disappeared.

Open 道 →
Appears in
Roads & Traffic

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