川菜 (Chuān cài) — Sichuan cuisine; Sichuan dishes

Definition

noun
Sichuan cuisineSichuan dishes

Examples

  • 川菜，。
    Wǒ tè bié xǐ huan Chuān cài, má là de wèi dào hěn guò yǐn.
    I especially like Sichuan dishes; the numbing-spicy flavor is really satisfying.
  • 川菜。
    Zhè jiā diàn de Chuān cài zuò dé fēi cháng dì dào.
    The Sichuan dishes at this restaurant are cooked very authentically.
  • 川菜。
    Chuān cài Zhōng zuì yǒu míng de yí dào cài shì má pó dòu fu.
    The most famous dish in Sichuan cuisine is mapo tofu.

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.

川chuānSichuan
菜càidishes

川 names Sichuan and 菜 names dishes, so it means the dishes of Sichuan.

Characters in this word

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

川 is drawn to look like flowing water.

Open 川 →

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
艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant
Sound part声符shēngfú
采
采cǎi菜cài
Same sound today

菜 has 艹 (grass/plants) on top and 采 below; the top part shows it is a plant, while 采 gives the sound.

Open 菜 →

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