食蚁兽 (shí yǐ shòu) — anteater | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

anteater

Measure word · 只

食蚁兽。
shí yǐ shòu Shì yì zhǒng shēng huó zài nán měi zhōu de dòng wù.
The anteater is an animal that lives in South America.
食蚁兽，。
Zhè zhǒng shí yǐ shòu de shé tou hěn cháng, kě yǐ shēn jìn yǐ xué lǐ.
This type of anteater has a very long tongue that can extend into ant nests.
食蚁兽。
shí yǐ shòu Měi tiān yào chī hěn duō mǎ yǐ hé bái yǐ.
Anteaters eat many ants and termites every day.

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.

食蚁eat ants

动宾Verb + object

食蚁兽 names an animal that eats ants, combining ant-eating with beast.

Characters in this word

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

The form behind 食 shows 亼, a mouth, together with 皀, a bowl of rice on a stand. In modern 食, the bowl part has changed shape.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 蟻; 蚁 is its simplified writing.

虫義蟻

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

義

義yì蟻yǐ

Same sound today

The traditional form 蟻 pairs 虫 (insect) with 義 as a sound part; the simplified 蚁 is a shorthand, and its parts are not the historical components.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 獸; 兽 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 獸 combines 單 (hunting weapon) and 犬 (dog) to show hunting; the simplified 兽 is a shorthand.