番茄 (fān qié) — tomato | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

番茄 and 西红柿 are the same fruit — 番茄 is the more written/formal term (common in Taiwan and on labels), 西红柿 is everyday spoken Mandarin on the mainland.

noun

tomato

Measure word · 个

Examples

番茄。
Wǒ mǎi le yì jīn fān qié.
I bought a jin (half a kilogram) of tomatoes.
番茄。
Qiè yì xiē fān qié zuò shā lā.
Cut some tomatoes to make a salad.
番茄。
Duō chī fān qié duì shēn tǐ hǎo.
Eating more tomatoes is good for your health.

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.

番fānforeign

茄qiéeggplant

'番' marks foreign origin and '茄' an eggplant-like plant, naming tomato.

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.

釆田番

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

釆

釆biàn番fān

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

番 is built from 釆 and 田: 釆 supplies a sound, and 田 is the meaning part, though the original sense is unclear.

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

艹加茄

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant

Sound part声符shēngfú

加

加jiā茄jiā

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

In 茄, the top 艹 marks a plant, and the lower 加 gives the sound.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 5 Vegetables

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