亚硫酸 (yà liú suān) — sulfurous acid

Definition

noun

sulfurous acid

亚硫酸。
Shí yàn shì lǐ xū yào yòng dào yà liú suān jìn xíng huán yuán fǎn yìng.
Sulfurous acid is needed in the lab for reduction reactions.
亚硫酸，。
yà liú suān Shì yì zhǒng ruò suān, cháng yòng yú piǎo bái hé xiāo dú.
Sulfurous acid is a weak acid, often used for bleaching and disinfection.
亚硫酸。
Tā men zhèng zài yán jiū yà liú suān duì shí pǐn bǎo cún de yǐng xiǎng.
They are studying the effect of sulfurous acid on food preservation.

Derived word

构词法gòucífǎ

前缀qiánzhuìPrefix

A fixed syllable in front that adds a shade of meaning but carries none of its own.

硫酸sulfuric acid

偏正Modifier + head

亚 (sub) and 硫酸 (sulfuric acid) name sulfurous acid.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 亞; 亚 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 亞 likely shows an overhead view of a construction, perhaps a 亞-shaped tomb. Its later simplified form 亚 is just a shorthand.

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

石石shístone

Sound part声符shēngfú

流

Same sound today

The left part 石 is stone; the right part 流 supplies the sound liú.

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

酉夋酸

Meaning part形符xíngfú

酉酉yǒu

Sound part声符shēngfú

夋

夋qūn酸suān

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

酸 is built from 酉 and 夋, and 夋 gives the sound.