焦油 (jiāo yóu) — tar | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

tar

Examples

焦油，。
Xiāng yān lǐ yǒu hěn duō jiāo yóu, duì shēn tǐ bù hǎo.
There is a lot of tar in cigarettes, which is bad for your health.
焦油。
Gōng rén yòng jiāo yóu lái pū lù.
Workers use tar to pave roads.
焦油。
Huà gōng chǎng pái fàng de jiāo yóu wū rǎn le hé shuǐ.
The tar discharged by the chemical plant polluted the river water.

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.

焦 points to burnt or scorched material, and 油 gives oil, forming tar.

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

隹隹zhuībird

Sound part声符shēngfú

小

小xiǎo焦jiāo

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The 焦 glyph first paired 隹 (bird) with 小 as a sound part. The 小 part later changed into a fire shape, and the character was then used for scorching.

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

氵由油

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.

Appears in

Materials & Substances

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