玉佛 (yù fó) — jade Buddha statue | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

jade Buddha statue

Measure word · 尊

玉佛。
Bó wù guǎn lǐ yǒu yì zūn yù fó.
There is a jade Buddha statue in the museum.
玉佛。
Zhè zūn yù fó shì yòng zuì hǎo de yù shí diāo kè de.
This jade Buddha statue is carved from the finest jade.
玉佛。
Tā huā le hěn duō qián mǎi le yí gè xiǎo yù fó.
He spent a lot of money to buy a small jade Buddha.

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.

玉 refers to jade and 佛 to Buddha, so a jade image of Buddha.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

玉 was drawn as a ritual jade piece, or as jade pieces strung together, and was made distinct from 王 by adding a dot.

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

亻弗佛

Meaning part形符xíngfú

亻Written in full as人rénperson

Sound part声符shēngfú

弗

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

佛 is made from 亻, a person, and 弗, which gives the sound.