邮船 (yóu chuán) — ocean liner, mail steamer (a large ship that carries mail and passengers on regular transoceanic routes)

Definition

noun
ocean linermail steamer (a large ship that carries mail and passengers on regular transoceanic routes)
Measure word · 艘
Easily confused

Examples

  • 邮船。
    Tā chéng zuò yóu chuán héng dù dà xī yáng.
    He crossed the Atlantic Ocean on an ocean liner.
  • 邮船。
    Zhè sōu yóu chuán měi zhōu wǎng fǎn yú shàng hǎi hé niǔ yuē zhī jiān.
    This ocean liner makes weekly round trips between Shanghai and New York.
  • 邮船19。
    yóu chuán Zài 19 shì jì shì zhòng yào de jiāo tōng gōng jù.
    Ocean liners were an important means of transportation in the 19th century.

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.

邮yóumail
船chuánship

邮 (mail) and 船 (ship) combine to mean a mail ship.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 郵; 邮 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 郵 pairs 垂 (“far, remote”) with 邑 (“city”) to show a relay station; the simplified 邮 is a later shorthand.

Open 邮 →

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
舟舟zhōuboat
Sound part声符shēngfú
㕣
㕣㕣船
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

船 pairs 舟 (boat) with 㕣 for its sound.

Open 船 →

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