黄雀 (huáng qiāo) — siskin (a small songbird); titmouse (a small bird of the Paridae family)

Definition

The word literally means 'yellow finch/siskin' and appears in the set phrase 螳螂捕蝉，黄雀在后 ('the mantis stalks the cicada, with the siskin behind'), a warning that a third party may seize the moment.

noun
siskin (a small songbird)titmouse (a small bird of the Paridae family)
Measure word · 只

Examples

  • 黄雀。
    Gōng yuán lǐ yǒu yì zhī huáng qiāo zài shù zhī shàng chàng gē.
    There is a siskin singing on a branch in the park.
  • ，黄雀，。
    Táng láng bǔ chán, huáng qiāo zài hòu, zhè ge dào lǐ nǐ yào jì zhù.
    The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind — you must remember this principle.
  • 黄雀。
    Zhè zhǒng huáng qiāo de yǔ máo yán sè fēi cháng xiān yàn.
    This type of titmouse has very bright feather colors.

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.

黄huángyellow
雀quèsparrow/bird

黄 gives the yellow color and 雀 names the small bird, so 黄雀 is the yellow bird.

Characters in this word

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 黃; 黄 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
田田tiánfield
Sound part声符shēngfú
炗
炗guāng黃huáng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 黃 pairs 田 (field) with 炗 (light), which gives the sound; the simplified 黄 is a shorthand and its parts are not historical components.

Open 黄 →

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

雀 combines 小 (small) and 隹 (bird), showing a small bird, a sparrow.

Open 雀 →

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