咖喱粉 (gā lí fěn) — curry powder

Definition

noun
curry powder

Examples

  • 咖喱粉。
    Wǒ xǐ huan yòng gā lí fěn zuò gā lí jī.
    I like to use curry powder to make curry chicken.
  • 咖喱粉。
    Chāo shì mài de gā lí fěn zhǒng lèi hěn duō.
    There are many types of curry powder sold in the supermarket.
  • 咖喱粉。
    Zuò cài shí fàng yì diǎn gā lí fěn huì gèng xiāng.
    Adding a little curry powder when cooking will make it more fragrant.

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.

咖喱curry
咖kā喱lí
音译Transliteration
粉fěnpowder

咖喱 names curry and 粉 means powder, together curry powder.

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 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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
米米mǐrice
Sound part声符shēngfú
分
分fēn粉fěn
Same sound today

粉 pairs 米 (rice) with 分 for its sound. The rice part points to face powder made from rice.

Open 粉 →

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