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紫罗兰 (zǐ luó lán) — violet (flower)

Definition

noun
violet (flower)
Measure word · 朵

Examples

  • 紫罗兰。
    Tā zuì xǐ huan de huā shì zǐ luó lán.
    Her favorite flower is the violet.
  • 紫罗兰。
    Wǒ zài huā yuán lǐ zhǒng le jǐ zhū zǐ luó lán.
    I planted a few violet plants in the garden.
  • 紫罗兰。
    Zhè shù zǐ luó lán shì péng you sòng gěi wǒ de shēng rì lǐ wù.
    This bunch of violets was a birthday gift from my friend.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
音译yīnyìTransliteration

The characters spell the sound of a foreign word; their individual meanings play no part.

紫zǐ
罗luó
兰lán

紫罗兰 spells a loan name for the flower; the characters carry no meaning of their own here.

Sound-only characters

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
糸糸mì
Sound part声符shēngfú
此
此cǐ紫zǐ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

紫 is made of 糸, a silk-related part, and 此, which gives the sound cǐ.

Open 紫 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 羅; 罗 is its simplified writing.

  • 网网wǎngnet
  • 維維wéibird (tied with string)

The traditional form 羅 combines 网 (net) with 維 (a bird tied with string) to show a net for catching birds; the simplified 罗 is a later abbreviation.

Open 罗 →

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 蘭; 兰 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
艹Written in full as艸cǎoplant
Sound part声符shēngfú
闌
闌lán蘭lán
Same sound today

In the traditional form 蘭, 艹 marks it as a plant and 闌 stands for the sound; the simplified 兰 is a later shorthand, not the original parts.

Open 兰 →
Appears in
Plants & Flowers

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