榄 (lǎn) — (bound form) olive (in 橄榄)

Definition

A bound morph meaning 'olive', only used inside the word 橄榄. It never stands alone — say 橄榄 (gǎnlǎn) for 'olive', 橄榄油 for 'olive oil'.

bound form
olive (in 橄榄)

Examples

  • ,。
    Wǒ xǐ huan chī gǎn lǎn, tè bié shì lǜ sè de nà zhǒng.
    I like to eat olives, especially the green kind.
  • 。
    Gǎn lǎn yóu de yíng yǎng jià zhí hěn gāo.
    Olive oil has very high nutritional value.
  • 。
    Yuàn zi lǐ zhǒng le yì kē gǎn lǎn shù.
    There is an olive tree planted in the yard.

Origin

Sound + meaning
六书liùshū
形声xíngshēng

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 欖; 榄 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mùtree
Sound part声符shēngfú
覽
覽lǎn欖lǎn
Same sound today

The traditional form 欖 has 木 (tree) beside 覽, which gives the sound; the simplified 榄 is a later shorthand.

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