煤块 (méi kuài) — lump of coal

Definition

noun
lump of coal
Measure word · 块

Examples

  • ，煤块。
    Dōng tiān dào le, wǒ men mǎi le yì xiē méi kuài qǔ nuǎn.
    Winter has come, we bought some coal lumps to keep warm.
  • 煤块，。
    Zhè xiē méi kuài de zhì liàng hěn hǎo, shāo qǐ lái hěn wàng.
    These coal lumps are of good quality and burn vigorously.
  • 煤块。
    Tā yòng shǒu bān qǐ yí dà kuài méi kuài.
    He lifted a large lump of coal with his hands.

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.

煤méicoal
块kuàilump

煤块 is a lump of coal, from 煤 'coal' and 块 'lump'.

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
火火huǒfire
Sound part声符shēngfú
某
某mǒu煤méi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

煤 puts 火 (fire) on the left and 某 on the right; the fire part relates to coal, and 某 gives the sound.

Open 煤 →

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 塊; 块 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
土土tǔearth; dust
Sound part声符shēngfú
鬼
鬼guǐ塊kuài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 塊 pairs 土 (earth; dust) with 鬼 as a sound part to show a clod of dirt. The simplified 块 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the historical pieces.

Open 块 →

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