矢车菊 (shǐ chē jú) — cornflower, bachelor's button

Definition

noun
cornflowerbachelor's button
Measure word · 朵

Examples

  • 矢车菊。
    Yuàn zi lǐ de shǐ chē jú kāi dé hěn lán.
    The cornflowers in the yard are blooming very blue.
  • 矢车菊。
    Tā mǎi le yí shù shǐ chē jú fàng zài huā píng lǐ.
    She bought a bunch of cornflowers and put them in a vase.
  • 矢车菊，。
    shǐ chē jú De huā bàn shì lán sè de, hěn piào liang.
    The petals of the cornflower are blue, very pretty.

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.

矢车arrow cart
矢shǐarrow车chēcart
偏正Modifier + head
菊júchrysanthemum

The arrow-cart image (矢车) evokes this chrysanthemum-like flower (菊).

Characters in this word

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

矢's shape is an old picture of an arrow. The arrow is easier to see in older forms than in the modern 矢.

Open 矢 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 車; 车 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 車 was drawn as a carriage seen from above, with wheels on both sides and a shaft at the front; the simplified 车 is a later shorthand.

Open 车 →

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cǎo
Sound part声符shēngfú
匊
匊jū菊jú
Same sound today

菊 has 艹 (grass) on top and 匊 below; the grass part marks it as a plant, and 匊 gives the sound.

Open 菊 →

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