咖 (gā) — (bound morpheme) used in the word 咖喱 (gālí, curry)

Definition

咖 (gā) is a bound morpheme — it has no independent meaning and only appears in the word 咖喱 ('curry').

bound form
(bound morpheme) used in the word 咖喱 (gālí, curry)
Easily confused

Examples

  • 。
    Wǒ hěn xǐ huan chī gā lí.
    I really like eating curry.
  • 。
    Zhè jiā diàn de gā lí fàn wèi dào bú cuò.
    The curry rice at this restaurant tastes good.
  • ？
    Nǐ chī guò yìn dù gā lí ma?
    Have you ever had Indian curry?

Origin

Sound + meaning
六书liùshū
形声xíngshēng

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.

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