奶水 (nǎi shuǐ) — breast milk (colloquial)

Definition

Colloquial word for breast milk — more everyday than the medical/formal 母乳.

noun
breast milk (colloquial)

Examples

  • 奶水,。
    Tā de nǎi shuǐ hěn chōng zú, hái zi chī dé hěn hǎo.
    Her breast milk is abundant; the baby feeds well.
  • 奶水。
    Mā ma yào duō hē shuǐ cái néng yǒu zú gòu de nǎi shuǐ.
    Mom needs to drink more water to have enough breast milk.
  • 奶水。
    Yī shēng jiàn yì tā jiǎn chá yí xià nǎi shuǐ de zhì liàng.
    The doctor suggested she check the quality of her breast milk.

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.

奶 names milk and 水 names water; together they denote the watery fluid of the breast.

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
Sound part声符shēngfú
乃
乃nǎi奶nǎi
Same sound today

奶 combines 女, a woman, and 乃, which gives the sound.

Open 奶 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

水 is a simple drawing of water flowing.

Open 水 →

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