龙卷风 (lóng juǎn fēng) — tornado | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

tornado

Measure word · 场

Examples

龙卷风。
Zuó tiān de lóng juǎn fēng bǎ xǔ duō fáng zi dōu chuī dǎo le.
Yesterday's tornado blew down many houses.
龙卷风。
Qì xiàng tái shuō xià wǔ kě néng huì yǒu lóng juǎn fēng.
The weather station said there might be a tornado in the afternoon.
龙卷风，。
lóng juǎn fēng Hé tái fēng bù yí yàng, tā fàn wéi xiǎo dàn fēng lì gèng qiáng.
Tornadoes are different from typhoons; they have a small range but stronger winds.

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.

龙卷dragon coils

龙lóngdragon卷juàncoil

主谓Subject + predicate

龙卷 dragon-roll + 风 wind: a wind that rolls like a dragon.

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 龍; 龙 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 龍 originally drew a sacred creature with a large mouth and a snake-like body; the simplified 龙 is the form written here.

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

卩卩jiékneeling person

Sound part声符shēngfú

𢍏

𢍏𢍏卷juàn

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

In 卷, 卩 shows a kneeling person, while 𢍏 gives the sound and may also suggest bending or rolling, as in a reel of books.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Appears in

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