凉水 (liáng shuǐ) — cold water (as opposed to hot water); unboiled…

Definition

Literally 'cool water' — means either cold water (vs 热水) or, in everyday mainland usage, unboiled tap water (vs 开水). Examples reflect both senses.

noun

cold water (as opposed to hot water)unboiled water (tap water, not yet boiled)

，凉水。
Xià tiān de shí hou, wǒ xǐ huan hē liáng shuǐ.
In summer, I like drinking cold water.
，凉水，。
Zài zhōng guó, rén men yì bān bù zhí jiē hē liáng shuǐ, yào hē shāo kāi de kāi shuǐ.
In China, people generally don't drink unboiled water directly; they drink boiled water.
，凉水。
Yī shēng jiàn yì wǒ duō hē rè shuǐ, bú yào hē liáng shuǐ.
The doctor advised me to drink more hot water and not to drink cold water.

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.

凉 “cool” describes 水 “water,” giving cold water.

Characters in this word

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 涼; 凉 is its simplified writing.

氵京涼

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

京

京jīng涼liáng

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

The traditional form 涼 combines 氵 (water) with 京, which gives the sound; the simplified 凉 is a later abbreviation.

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

水 is a simple drawing of water flowing.

Appears in