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海洛因 (hǎi luò yīn) — heroin

Definition

noun
heroin

Examples

  • 海洛因。
    Xī hǎi luò yīn duì shēn tǐ fēi cháng yǒu hài.
    Smoking heroin is very harmful to the body.
  • 海洛因。
    Jǐng fāng chá huò le dà liàng hǎi luò yīn.
    The police seized a large amount of heroin.
  • 海洛因。
    Tā yīn wèi xī shí hǎi luò yīn bèi sòng jìn le jiè dú suǒ.
    He was sent to a drug rehabilitation center because of heroin use.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
音译yīnyìTransliteration

The characters spell the sound of a foreign word; their individual meanings play no part.

海hǎi
洛luò
因yīn

The characters carry no meaning of their own here; the word transliterates the foreign name for heroin.

Sound-only characters

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
每
每měi海hǎi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

海 pairs 氵 (water) with 每, which gives the sound. The 氵 side shows it is about water.

Open 海 →

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
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
各
各gè洛Luò
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

洛 shows 水 (water) and 各, and 各 supplies the sound.

Open 洛 →

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

  • 囗囗wéisheet
  • 大大dàperson

Originally, 因 showed 大 (a person) on 囗 (a sheet or mattress).

Open 因 →
Appears in
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