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中餐馆 (Zhōng cān guǎn) — Chinese restaurant

Definition

noun
Chinese restaurant
Measure word · 家

Examples

  • 。
    Wǒ men qù nà jiā Zhōng cān guǎn chī fàn ba.
    Let's go eat at that Chinese restaurant.
  • 中餐馆。
    Zhè jiā Zhōng cān guǎn de cài fēi cháng hǎo chī.
    The food at this Chinese restaurant is very tasty.
  • 中餐馆。
    Xué xiào fù jìn yǒu yì jiā Zhōng cān guǎn.
    There is a Chinese restaurant near the school.

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.

中zhōngChinese
餐馆restaurant
餐cānmeal馆guǎnestablishment
偏正Modifier + head

中 (Chinese) + 餐馆 (restaurant) gives a Chinese restaurant.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The original picture showed a flagpole with a drum in the middle, set up in the center of a field.

Open 中 →

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
食食shíto eat; meal; food
Sound part声符shēngfú
𣦼
𣦼𣦼餐cān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

餐 combines 食, meaning food or eating, with 𣦼 as the sound part; it originally meant “to swallow.”

Open 餐 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 館; 馆 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
飠Written in full as食shí
Sound part声符shēngfú
官
官guān館guǎn
Same sound today

The traditional form 館 is made of 食, written as 飠 on the left, and 官 on the right; 官 provides the sound. The simplified 馆 is a later shorthand.

Open 馆 →
Appears in
Dining & Restaurants

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