情人卡 (qíng rén kǎ) — Valentine's Day card; greeting card for a roman…

Definition

noun

Valentine's Day cardgreeting card for a romantic partner

Measure word · 张

情人卡。
Tā sòng le yì zhāng qíng rén kǎ gěi tā.
He gave her a Valentine's Day card.
情人卡。
Wǒ zài shāng diàn mǎi le jǐ zhāng qíng rén kǎ.
I bought several Valentine's cards at the store.
情人卡“”。
Zhè zhāng qíng rén kǎ shàng xiě zhe "wǒ ài nǐ".
This Valentine's card says 'I love you' on it.

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.

情人loved person

偏正Modifier + head

情人卡 uses 情人, a loved person, to specify the 卡, card, for romantic occasions.

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

心心xīnheart

Sound part声符shēngfú

青

Same sound today

情 shows 心 (heart) beside 青, which gives the sound. The heart part points to feelings and inner states.

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

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

卡 is made from 上 (up) and 下 (down), with their horizontal lines fused, showing something squeezed between above and below.