砂糖 (shā táng) — granulated sugar | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

granulated sugar

Examples

砂糖。
Wǒ xū yào yí dài shā táng.
I need a bag of granulated sugar.
砂糖。
Tā wǎng kā fēi lǐ jiā le yì sháo shā táng.
She added a spoonful of granulated sugar to her coffee.
砂糖。
Zhè zhǒng shā táng bǐ bái táng gèng xì.
This kind of granulated sugar is finer than white sugar.

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.

砂 refers to sand-like grains and 糖 means sugar, so the word names granulated sugar.

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.

石少砂

Meaning part形符xíngfú

石石shístone

Sound part声符shēngfú

少

沙shā砂shā

Same sound today

砂 pairs 石 (stone) with 少, whose full form is 沙, as its sound part. It was first a variant of 沙, which showed sand along a riverbank.

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

米唐糖

Meaning part形符xíngfú

米米mǐrice

Sound part声符shēngfú

唐

Same sound today

糖 is made from 米 (rice) and 唐, which gives the sound táng.

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