膊

bó

尃 + 月

Definitions

bó (noun) shoulder; upper arm

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and 尃 represents the sound.

Semantic: ⺼ Phonetic: 尃

About

The character 膊 is a phono-semantic compound: the left side, ⺼ (commonly written as 月), is the 'meat' radical and points to a body part, while the right side, 尃, gives the sound. It originally meant the upper limbs, specifically the arm or shoulder region. Historically, it was used as a standalone word for the shoulder blade or upper arm. Today, it functions almost exclusively as a bound morpheme in two-character compounds that refer to the entire arm from shoulder to wrist.

Etymology Hide

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

他的胳膊很有力量。

Tā de gēbo hěn yǒu lìliàng.

His arm is very strong.

她不小心碰疼了我的胳膊。

Tā bù xiǎoxīn pèng téng le wǒ de gēbo.

She accidentally bumped and hurt my arm.

天气太热，他赤膊在院子里干活。

Tiānqì tài rè, tā chìbó zài yuànzi lǐ gànhuó.

It was too hot, so he worked bare-chested in the yard.

经过锻炼，他的臂膊变得更加粗壮了。

Jīngguò duànliàn, tā de bìbó biàn de gèng jiā cūzhuàng le.

After exercising, his arms became thicker and stronger.

我摔了一跤，胳膊肘擦破了一块皮。

Wǒ shuāi le yì jiāo, gēbozhǒu cāpò le yí kuài pí.

I fell and scraped the skin on my elbow.

打完球后，他的整个臂膊都感到酸痛。

Dǎ wán qiú hòu, tā de zhěnggè bìbó dōu gǎndào suāntòng.

After playing ball, his entire arm felt sore and achy.

他用有力的臂膊紧紧抱住了自己的孩子。

Tā yòng yǒulì de bìbó jǐnjǐn bào zhù le zìjǐ de háizi.

He held his child tightly with his powerful arms.

这位拳击手发达的肩膊肌肉是他刻苦训练的证明。

Zhè wèi quánjí shǒu fādá de jiānbó jīròu shì tā kèkǔ xùnliàn de zhèngmíng.

The boxer's developed shoulder and arm muscles are proof of his hard training.

Related Characters

Component: 尃

Component: 月

膊