痰盂 (tán yú) — spittoon; cuspidor | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

spittooncuspidor

Measure word · 个

Examples

痰盂。
Zhè ge lǎo chá guǎn lǐ hái fàng zhe yí gè tóng zhì tán yú.
This old teahouse still has a brass spittoon.
，痰盂。
Tā ké sou le yī shēng, bǎ tán tǔ jìn le tán yú lǐ.
He coughed and spat the phlegm into the spittoon.
痰盂。
Kǎo gǔ duì zài yí zhǐ zhōng fā xiàn le gǔ dài tán yú.
The archaeological team discovered an ancient spittoon at the site.

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.

痰 names phlegm, and 盂 names a basin.

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.

疒炎痰

Meaning part形符xíngfú

疒疒nèillness

Sound part声符shēngfú

炎

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

痰 combines 疒, showing illness, with 炎 to give its sound.

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

于皿盂

Meaning part形符xíngfú

皿皿mǐndish; vessel

Sound part声符shēngfú

于

于yú盂yú

Same sound today

盂 combines 皿, a dish or vessel, with 于, which gives the sound; the 皿 part shows that it names a container.

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