烟叶 (yān yè) — tobacco leaf | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

tobacco leaf

Measure word · 片

烟叶。
Zhè xiē yān yè xū yào shài gān hòu cái néng shǐ yòng.
These tobacco leaves need to be dried before use.
烟叶。
Tā mǎi le yí dài yān yè zhǔn bèi zuò shǒu gōng juǎn yān.
He bought a bag of tobacco leaves to make hand-rolled cigarettes.
烟叶，。
Zhè zhǒng yān yè de zhì liàng fēi cháng hǎo, yán sè jīn huáng.
This kind of tobacco leaf is of very good quality, golden in color.

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.

烟 names tobacco and 叶 the leaf, together meaning a tobacco leaf.

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.

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.

火垔煙

Meaning part形符xíngfú

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.

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

口十叶

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

十

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

The form 叶 pairs 口 (mouth) with 十 (ten) as an old form meaning cooperate; it later came to mean leaf because it sounded similar.

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