腭裂 (è liè) — cleft palate

Definition

noun
cleft palate
Easily confused

Examples

  • 腭裂。
    Yī shēng fā xiàn zhè ge yīng ér huàn yǒu è liè.
    The doctor found that this baby has a cleft palate.
  • 腭裂。
    è liè Kě yǐ tōng guò shǒu shù zhì liáo.
    Cleft palate can be treated with surgery.
  • 腭裂，。
    Tā chū shēng shí jiù huàn yǒu è liè, xiàn zài huī fù dé hěn hǎo.
    He was born with a cleft palate and has recovered very well.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

腭èpalate
裂liècleft

The 腭 is 裂-ed, giving a cleft in the palate.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 顎; 腭 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yè
Sound part声符shēngfú
咢
咢è顎
Same sound today

The traditional form 顎 combines 咢 and 頁: 咢 supplies the sound, 頁 the meaning. The simplified 腭 is a later abbreviation, so its parts are not the historical components.

Open 腭 →

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
衣衣yīclothes
Sound part声符shēngfú
列
列liè裂liè
Same sound today

裂 combines 衣 (clothes) with 列 for the sound. The picture of 列 shows bones cut by a blade and lined up, and the whole writes the idea of cutting and tearing clothes.

Open 裂 →

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