拉面 (lā miàn) — hand-pulled noodles | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

hand-pulled noodles

Measure word · 碗

Examples

拉面。
Wǒ zuó tiān chī le yì wǎn lā miàn.
I ate a bowl of hand-pulled noodles yesterday.
拉面。
Zhè jiā diàn de lā miàn fēi cháng hǎo chī.
The hand-pulled noodles at this restaurant are very tasty.
拉面，。
Shī fu zhèng zài zuò lā miàn, nǐ kě yǐ kàn kàn.
The chef is making hand-pulled noodles, you can watch.

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.

面miànnoodles

The sense of 拉 as pulling shapes the noodles in 面.

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

手手shǒuhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

立

立lì拉lā

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

拉 pairs 手 (hand) with 立, a component that supplies the sound.

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

面 originally drew a man’s face, with one eye exaggerated; the horizontal stroke was added later.

Appears in

Grains & Staples Food (General)

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