水仙花 (shuǐ xiān huā) — narcissus; daffodil | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A fragrant flowering bulb that blooms in winter, often grown indoors in a pot and associated with Spring Festival. In English usually called narcissus or daffodil.

noun

narcissusdaffodil

Measure word · 棵

Examples

，水仙花。
Měi nián chūn jié, wǒ jiā dōu huì mǎi yì pén shuǐ xiān huā.
Every Spring Festival, my family buys a pot of narcissus.
水仙花，。
shuǐ xiān huā Zài dōng tiān kāi fàng, xiāng qì hěn nóng.
Narcissus blooms in winter, and its fragrance is strong.
水仙花。
Zhè duǒ shuǐ xiān huā kāi dé zhēn piào liang.
This narcissus flower is blooming beautifully.

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.

水仙narcissus

水shuǐwater仙xiānimmortal

偏正Modifier + head

“水仙” names the water-grown immortal flower, and “花” marks it as a bloom.

Characters in this word

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

水 is a simple drawing of water flowing.

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

亻山仙

亻人rénperson
山山shānmountain

仙 pairs 亻 (person) with 山 (mountain), showing a person moving into a mountain to become immortal; 山 also gives the sound.

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

艹化花

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant

Sound part声符shēngfú

化

Same sound today

花 pairs 艹 (grass; plant) with 化, which gives the sound.

Appears in

Plants & Flowers

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