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小吃店 (xiǎo chī diàn) — (noun) snack bar, small eatery, lunchroom (classifier: 家)

Definition

noun
snack barsmall eaterylunchroom (classifier: 家)
Measure word · 家

Examples

  • 小吃店。
    Wǒ jiā lóu xià yǒu yì jiā xiǎo chī diàn.
    There is a snack bar downstairs from my home.
  • 小吃店。
    Zhè jiā xiǎo chī diàn de niú ròu miàn hěn hǎo chī.
    The beef noodles at this snack bar are delicious.
  • 小吃店。
    Tā měi tiān zhōng wǔ dōu qù xiǎo chī diàn chī wǔ fàn.
    He goes to a snack bar for lunch every day.

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.

小吃snack
小xiǎosmall吃chīeat
偏正Modifier + head
店diànshop

小吃 means small informal eating, and 店 is a shop for such food.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 八八bāto divide; to separate
  • 丨丨gǔnsmall object

The shape of 小 comes from three small dots, later elongated into its strokes; the apparent parts 八 and 丨 are a later way of seeing it.

Open 小 →

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

吃 combines 口 (mouth) with 乞, which gives the sound; it originally wrote a word meaning to stutter.

Open 吃 →

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
广广guǎnghouse built to depend on a cliff
Sound part声符shēngfú
占
占zhàn店diàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

店 shows 广, a house built to depend on a cliff, and 占, which gives the sound.

Open 店 →
Appears in
Dining & Restaurants

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