水泥 (shuǐ ní) — cement

Definition

noun
cement
Measure word · 袋

Examples

  • 水泥。
    Zhè dài shuǐ ní de zhì liàng hěn hǎo.
    The quality of this bag of cement is very good.
  • 。
    Gōng rén men zhèng zài yòng shuǐ ní xiū lù.
    The workers are using cement to repair the road.
  • 水泥。
    shuǐ ní Shì jiàn zhù zhōng cháng yòng de cái liào.
    Cement is a commonly used material in construction.

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.

From 水 (water) and 泥 (mud), naming a cement-like material that sets when mixed with water.

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.

Open 水 →

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
尼
尼ní泥nì
Same sound today

The left side is 氵, the water part; the right side is 尼, which gives the sound.

Open 泥 →

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