粉红 (fěn hóng) — pink | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

adjective

pink

Examples

粉红。
Tā chuān le yí jiàn fěn hóng de lián yī qún.
She wore a pink dress.
粉红。
Huā yuán lǐ de fěn hóng méi gui kāi dé tè bié měi.
The pink roses in the garden bloomed especially beautifully.
，。
Zhè miàn qiáng shuā chéng le fěn hóng sè, kàn qǐ lái hěn wēn nuǎn.
This wall was painted pink, looks very warm.

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.

粉 (powder) and 红 (red) combine to mean a soft red color.

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.

米分粉

Meaning part形符xíngfú

米米mǐrice

Sound part声符shēngfú

分

分fēn粉fěn

Same sound today

粉 pairs 米 (rice) with 分 for its sound. The rice part points to face powder made from rice.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 紅; 红 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

糸糸mìsilk

Sound part声符shēngfú

工

工gōng紅hóng

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 紅 puts 糸 (silk) next to 工, which gives the sound; the simplified 红 is a later shorthand.

Appears in

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