油烟 (yóu yān) — lampblack, cooking oil fume

Definition

noun
lampblackcooking oil fume
Easily confused

Examples

  • 油烟，。
    Chú fáng lǐ de yóu yān hěn dà, yào dǎ kāi chōu yóu yān jī.
    The kitchen is full of cooking oil fumes; you should turn on the range hood.
  • 油烟。
    Cháng qī xī rù yóu yān duì jiàn kāng bù hǎo.
    Long-term inhalation of lampblack is bad for your health.
  • 油烟。
    Zhè zhǒng xīn xíng chōu yóu yān jī néng yǒu xiào qù chú yóu yān.
    This new type of range hood can effectively remove cooking fumes.

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.

油yóuoil
烟yānsmoke

油 means oil and 烟 means smoke, so it is the smoke or fume from heated oil.

Characters in this word

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
由
由yóu油yóu
Same sound today

油 is built from 氵, a water part, and 由, which supplies the sound.

Open 油 →

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 →

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