Chinlingo Chinese character: 犬 and the radical ” 犭”

The character "犬" (quǎn) meant "dog" originally. It is also used as a radical in the form of " 犭", which is called "反犬旁" or "reverse dog radical" literally. It is usually put on the left side of a left-right structured character to indicate that the character is related to an animal. For example, "猫" (māo) means "cat", "狐" (hú) means "fox", and "狮" (shī) means "lion".

汉字"犬（quǎn）"本义为狗。"犬（quǎn）"字也作为汉字部首，写作" 犭"，称为"反犬旁"。它常放在左右结构的汉字的左部,提示与"犭"组合成的汉字与动物有关。例如：猫（māo）、狐（hú）、狮（shī）.

In modern Chinese, "犬" is generally used as a written term, and "狗" is used orally. Dogs are among the first animals that have been domesticated by the human kind. They have been playing an important role in humans' work and life. Based on their functions, a number of compound words consisting of "犬" have been created in Chinese. For example,

在现代汉语中，"犬"多用于书面术语。在口语中人们更多的使用"狗"。狗是最早被人类驯化的动物之一。在人们的工作和生活中发挥着重要的角色。汉语中，以"犬"为词根，按照狗的职能，造出了许多合成词，如：

"警犬" (jǐnɡ quǎn): 警+犬= police dog

"猎犬" (liè quǎn): 猎+犬= gun dog

"牧羊犬" (mù yánɡ quǎn): 牧羊+犬= shepherd dog

"工作犬" (ɡōnɡ zuò quǎn): 工作+犬= working dog   

It is a general name for all dogs that help humans in their work and life. 警犬, 猎犬 and 牧羊犬 are all工作犬.

"警犬（jǐnɡ quǎn）"：警+犬= police dog

"猎犬（liè quǎn）"：猎+犬= gun dog

"牧羊犬（mù yánɡ quǎn）"：牧羊+犬= shepherd dog

"工作犬（ɡōnɡ zuò quǎn）"：工作+犬= working dog 

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