肝癌 (gān ái) — liver cancer

Definition

noun
liver cancer

Examples

  • 肝癌。
    Yī shēng què zhěn tā dé le wǎn qī gān ái.
    The doctor diagnosed him with advanced liver cancer.
  • 肝癌，。
    Zǎo qī gān ái rú guǒ jí shí fā xiàn, zhì yù lǜ jiào gāo.
    If early-stage liver cancer is detected in time, the cure rate is relatively high.
  • 肝癌、。
    Zhì liáo gān ái de fāng fǎ bāo kuò shǒu shù, huà liáo hé bǎ xiàng zhì liáo.
    Treatment methods for liver cancer include surgery, chemotherapy, and targeted therapy.

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.

肝gānliver
癌áicancer

肝 means liver and 癌 means cancer, denoting cancer in the liver.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
⺼Written in full as肉ròuflesh; body part
Sound part声符shēngfú
干
干gān肝gān
Same sound today

The left part ⺼ shows flesh or a body part, while the right part 干 gives the sound. Together they form 肝.

Open 肝 →

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
疒疒nèdisease
Sound part声符shēngfú
嵒
嵒yán癌
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

癌 combines 疒 (disease) with 嵒, a component used for its sound.

Open 癌 →

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