门牌号 (mén pái háo) — house number | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

house number

门牌号。
Qǐng gào sù wǒ nín de mén pái háo.
Please tell me your house number.
门牌号。
Zhè ge xiǎo qū mén pái háo hěn luàn.
The house numbers in this neighborhood are very messy.
门牌号。
Wǒ zhǎo bú dào nà ge mén pái háo.
I can't find that house number.

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.

门牌house plate

偏正Modifier + head

门牌 is the sign at a door, and 号 is the number, together giving the house number.

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 門; 门 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 門 pictures a gate as two door shapes side by side; the simplified 门 is a later shorthand.

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

片卑牌

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

卑

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

牌 puts 片, a flat piece, beside 卑, which gives the sound.

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

口丂号

The shape 号 comes from 口, a mouth, and 丂, exhaled air or a tiger's cry.

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