泥水 (ní shuǐ) — muddy water, muddy liquid; (trade) masonry, plastering

Definition

Two senses: literally 'muddy water' (道路上的泥水) and the Cantonese/regional trade term for masonry and plastering work (做泥水 = do masonry). The second sense is occupational jargon, not standard in Mandarin.

noun
muddy watermuddy liquid(trade) masonryplastering

Examples

  • 泥水，。
    Xià yǔ hòu lù shang dōu shì ní shuǐ, xiǎo xīn bié huá dǎo.
    After the rain the road is all muddy water — be careful not to slip.
  • 泥水。
    Zhè tiáo hé yīn wèi wū rǎn biàn chéng le hēi sè ní shuǐ.
    This river turned into black muddy water because of pollution.
  • 泥水，。
    Tā zuò le sān shí nián ní shuǐ, shǒu yì fēi cháng hǎo.
    He's done masonry for thirty years — his craftsmanship is excellent.

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.

泥nímud
水shuǐwater

泥 is mud and 水 is water, together suggesting muddy water.

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
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 →

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 →

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