粮食 (liáng shi) — grain, staple food (e.g. rice, wheat, corn) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Refers to grain crops as a national resource — harvest, import, production. 主食 is what's served on the plate; 粮食 is what's grown and stored.

noun

grainstaple food (e.g. rice, wheat, corn)

Measure word · 种

Examples

粮食。
Jīn nián liáng shi shōu cheng hěn hǎo.
The grain harvest is very good this year.
粮食。
Wǒ men guó jiā měi nián xū yào jìn kǒu dà liàng liáng shi.
Our country needs to import a large amount of grain every year.
粮食。
Zhè zhǒng liáng shi kě yǐ zuò chéng miàn bāo.
This kind of grain can be made into bread.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

粮 and 食 each relate to edible staples, together naming grain and foodstuff.

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.

米良粮

Meaning part形符xíngfú

米米mǐfood

Sound part声符shēngfú

良

良liáng粮liáng

Same sound today

粮 puts 米 (food) beside 良, which gives the sound liáng.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

亼亼jímouth
皀皀jía bowl of rice on a stand

The form behind 食 shows 亼, a mouth, together with 皀, a bowl of rice on a stand. In modern 食, the bowl part has changed shape.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 5 HSK 2.0 Level 5 Grains & Staples

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