无烟煤 (wú yān méi) — anthracite

Definition

noun
anthracite
Measure word · 块

Examples

  • 无烟煤。
    Zhè zhǒng wú yān méi rán shāo shí jī hū méi yǒu yān.
    This kind of anthracite produces almost no smoke when burned.
  • 无烟煤。
    Gōng chǎng gǎi yòng wú yān méi lái jiǎn shǎo wū rǎn.
    The factory switched to anthracite to reduce pollution.
  • 无烟煤。
    wú yān méi De rè zhí bǐ pǔ tōng méi gāo dé duō.
    Anthracite has a much higher calorific value than ordinary coal.

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.

无烟smokeless
无wúnot have烟yānsmoke
动宾Verb + object
煤méicoal

无烟 means without smoke, and 煤 means coal; together they name a coal that burns without smoke.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 無; 无 is its simplified writing.

For the simplified 无, the story is about 無. 無 drew a person dancing with ox tails held in both hands to pray for rain, then was borrowed for 'have no', so the picture does not explain that meaning.

Open 无 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 煙; 烟 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 烟 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (烟) it is 煙; in others it is 菸.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
火火huǒfire
Sound part声符shēngfú
垔
垔yīn煙yān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

This story is about the traditional form 煙, not the simplified 烟. It pairs 火, fire, with 垔, which gives the sound.

Open 烟 →

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
火火huǒfire
Sound part声符shēngfú
某
某mǒu煤méi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

煤 puts 火 (fire) on the left and 某 on the right; the fire part relates to coal, and 某 gives the sound.

Open 煤 →

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