染发 (rǎn fà) — to dye one's hair | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A verb-object phrase: 染 ('to dye') + 发 ('hair'), meaning to dye one's hair. It can split with aspect markers or a measure word (染一次发, 染了发).

verb

to dye one's hair

染发。
Wǒ míng tiān yào qù rǎn fà.
I want to dye my hair tomorrow.
，。
Tā rǎn le yí cì fā, yán sè hěn hǎo kàn.
She dyed her hair once, and the color is very nice.
染发？
Nǐ rǎn fà le ma?
Did you dye your hair?

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

染 dye acts on 发 hair, giving the action of dyeing hair.

Characters in this word

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

氵九木染

染 combines 氵 (water), 九 (hook), and 木 (tree): something hung on a hook from a tree into water to dye it.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 發; 发 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 发 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (爆发, 出发) it is 發; in others (理发, 头发) it is 髮.

The form 發, which 发 stands for in many words, was originally drawn as a bow firing an arrow.

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