发芽 (fā yá) — to germinate; to sprout; to bud | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

发芽 (fā yá) is the standard verb 'to sprout / germinate' for seeds and plants. Unlike the noun 芽 (the sprout itself), 发芽 focuses on the action of sprouting.

verb

to germinateto sproutto bud

Examples

发芽，。
Zhè xiē tǔ dòu yǐ jīng fā yá le, bù néng chī le.
These potatoes have already sprouted and are not edible.
发芽。
Chūn tiān shì zhí wù fā yá de jì jié.
Spring is the season when plants sprout.
，发芽。
Bǎ zhǒng zi zhǒng xià qù, guò jǐ tiān jiù huì fā yá.
Plant the seeds, and they will germinate in a few days.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

发fāsprout

“发” means to sprout or issue, and “芽” means bud, together meaning to germinate.

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 發; 发 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 发 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (爆发, 出发) it is 發; in others (理发, 头发) it is 髮.

The form 發, which 发 stands for in many words, was originally drawn as a bow firing an arrow.

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

艹牙芽

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎograss

Sound part声符shēngfú

牙

牙yá芽yá

Same sound today

芽 has 艹 (grass) on top and 牙 (yá) below, which gives the sound.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Plants & Flowers

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