绿 (lù) — (bound form) green (in specific literary/historical compounds, pronounced lù)
Definition
绿 (lù) is a literary/historical bound form of 'green,' used only in set names like 绿林 and 鸭绿江. In modern spoken Chinese, 绿 is always pronounced lǜ.
bound form
green (in specific literary/historical compounds, pronounced lù)
Examples
- 。lù Lín hǎo hàn de gù shi zài zhōng guó hěn yǒu míng.The stories of the greenwood outlaws are very famous in China.
- 绿。Yā lù jiāng shì zhōng guó hé cháo xiǎn de jiè hé.The Yalu River is the border river between China and North Korea.
- 《》。Tā zài dú 《lù lín wài shǐ》.He is reading 'The Unofficial History of the Greenwood'.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost 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 綠; 绿 is its simplified writing.
Meaning part形符xíngfú
糸糸mì
Sound part声符shēngfú
彔
彔lù綠lù
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.
The traditional form 綠 uses 糸 to show silk and 彔 for sound; the simplified 绿 is a later abbreviation, so its parts are not the original pieces.
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