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咖啡馆 (kā fēi guǎn) — café; coffee shop

Definition

noun
cafécoffee shop
Measure word · 家

Examples

  • 咖啡馆。
    Wǒ men jīng cháng qù kā fēi guǎn xué xí.
    We often go to a café to study.
  • 咖啡馆。
    Tā zài kā fēi guǎn gōng zuò.
    She works at a café.
  • 咖啡馆。
    Zhè ge kā fēi guǎn hěn ān jìng.
    This café is very quiet.

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.

咖啡coffee
咖kā啡fēi
音译Transliteration
馆guǎnhall/shop

咖啡 spells coffee, and 馆 names a hall or shop, giving the idea of a coffee hall.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
加
加jiā咖gā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left part is 口, showing a mouth, and the right part is 加, which gives the sound jiā.

Open 咖 →

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
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
非
非fēi啡
Same sound today

啡 combines 口 (mouth) with 非, which supplies the sound.

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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