隧道 (suì dào) — tunnel | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A tunnel for vehicles, trains, or pedestrians. Unlike 地道 (an underground passage, often small or military), 隧道 is the modern, large-scale road/rail tunnel.

noun

tunnel

Measure word · 条

Examples

隧道。
Zhè tiáo suì dào zài shān qū lǐ.
This tunnel is in the mountainous area.
隧道。
Dì tiě suì dào wā le hǎo jǐ nián.
The subway tunnel was dug for several years.
隧道。
Jìn suì dào qián qǐng dǎ kāi chē dēng.
Please turn on your car lights before entering the tunnel.

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.

隧suìunderground

'隧' gives underground and '道' gives road, so it names an underground passage.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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.

Appears in

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