国画 (guó huà) — traditional Chinese painting

Definition

noun

traditional Chinese painting

Measure word · 幅

Easily confused

国画。
Zhè fú guó huà huà le sān nián cái wán chéng.
This traditional Chinese painting took three years to finish.
国画。
Lǎo shī sòng le wǒ yì fú tā huà de guó huà.
The teacher gave me one of his traditional Chinese paintings.
国画。
Wǒ cóng xiǎo jiù xǐ huan xué xí guó huà.
I have enjoyed learning traditional Chinese painting since I was young.

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.

画huàpainting

国 means country and 画 means painting, so the word names the painting style of the country.

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 國; 国 is its simplified writing.

囗或國

Meaning part形符xíngfú

囗囗wéiclosure

Sound part声符shēngfú

或

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 國 uses 囗 to show closure and 或 to give 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 畫; 画 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

聿聿yùbrush

Sound part声符shēngfú

規

規guī畫huà

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

The traditional form 畫 pairs 聿, a brush, with 規 for its sound. The simplified 画 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the old parts.

Appears in