马背 (mǎ bèi) — horseback; the back of a horse | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

horsebackthe back of a horse

Examples

马背，。
Tā qí zài mǎ bèi shàng, kàn qǐ lái hěn shuài.
He rides on horseback and looks very handsome.
马背，。
Cóng mǎ bèi shàng xià lái, tā gǎn dào tuǐ hěn suān.
After getting off the horse, his legs felt very sore.
马背。
Mù mín men cóng xiǎo jiù xué huì le zài mǎ bèi shàng shēng huó.
Herdsmen learned from childhood to live on horseback.

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.

“马” gives the animal and “背” gives the body part, together meaning horseback.

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 馬; 马 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 馬 shows a horse with its head facing left, a flowing mane, and two legs standing vertically.

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

北月背

Meaning part形符xíngfú

月Written in full as肉ròumeat

Sound part声符shēngfú

北

北běi背bèi

Same sound today

背 was first written as 北; 北 gives the sound, and 肉 (meat, written as 月 here) was added to separate it from 北’s north meaning.

Appears in

Animals & Mammals

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