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A comment on How to Say (Almost) Everything in a Hundred-Word Language (2015). Parent comment

Re:How to Say (Almost) Everything in a Hundred-Word Language... by robjan on Wednesday April 26, 2017 @03:00AM (#14201024)
In Chinese, an airport is a "airplane field" and a airplane is a compound of the word for "wood" and "table.
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Re:How to Say (Almost) Everything in a Hundred-Word Language... by godarderik on Wednesday April 26, 2017 @03:08AM (#14201050)
What? An airplane is 飞机，where 飞 = flying and 机 = machine
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Re:How to Say (Almost) Everything in a Hundred-Word Language... by mrob on Wednesday April 26, 2017 @06:35AM (#14201937)
I think the confusion is because of simplified vs. traditional characters. 机 is made from 木 (wood) and 几 (table) radicals, and in Japanese it really does mean desk/table. But in Chinese it's the simplified form of 機 (machine). The 几 is just a substitute for some more complicated strokes, and 木 is just for the sound.
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Re:How to Say (Almost) Everything in a Hundred-Word Language... by Gigablah on Wednesday April 26, 2017 @06:43AM (#14201962)
Even then the character by itself doesn't mean "airplane", you need to pair it with 飞.
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