háng kōng
aviation
我乘坐航空公司去北京。
wǒ chéngzuò hángkōng gōngsī qù běijīng.
I took an airline to Beijing.
航空公司提供免费餐点。
hángkōng gōngsī tígōng miǎnfèi cāndiǎn.
The airline provides free meals.
航空公司取消了我的航班。
hángkōng gōngsī qǔxiāo le wǒ de hángbān.
The airline canceled my flight.
飞机 (fēijī)
airplane
飞行 (fēixíng)
flight
陆运 (lùyùn)
land transport
海运 (hǎiyùn)
sea transport
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The Chinese word 航空 (hángkōng) for "aviation" is composed of two characters: 航 (háng) and 空 (kōng). The character 航 originally meant "to sail" or "to navigate", and is composed of the radical 舟 (zhōu) for "boat" and the phonetic component 亢 (kàng). The character 空 originally meant "empty" or "void", and is composed of the radical 穴 (xué) for "cave" and the phonetic component 工 (gōng).When combined, the characters 航 and 空 form the compound word 航空, which literally means "to navigate the air". This term was first used in China in the early 20th century to refer to the new technology of flying machines, and has since become the standard Chinese word for "aviation".
