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白菜 (bái cài) — Chinese cabbage

Definition

noun
Chinese cabbage
Measure word · 棵

Examples

  • 白菜。
    Dōng tiān wǒ men jiā jīng cháng chī bái cài.
    We often eat Chinese cabbage at home in winter.
  • 白菜。
    bái cài Dòu fu tāng shì yí dào jiā cháng cài.
    Chinese cabbage and tofu soup is a home-style dish.
  • 白菜。
    Tā mǎi le liǎng kē bái cài huí lái.
    He bought two heads of Chinese cabbage and came back.

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.

白báiwhite
菜càivegetable

白 (white) and 菜 (vegetable) name the pale-leaved vegetable.

Characters in this word

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

白 is thought to picture either an acorn or a human head.

Open 白 →

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
艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant
Sound part声符shēngfú
采
采cǎi菜cài
Same sound today

菜 has 艹 (grass/plants) on top and 采 below; the top part shows it is a plant, while 采 gives the sound.

Open 菜 →
Appears in
Vegetables

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