芫荽 (yán sui) — cilantro, coriander (Coriandrum sativum)

Definition

noun

cilantrocoriander (Coriandrum sativum)

Measure word · 棵

，芫荽。
Zuò tāng de shí hou, zuì hòu fàng yán sui hǎo chī.
When making soup, add cilantro at the end for a good taste.
芫荽，。
Bǎ yán sui xǐ gān jìng, qiē suì le fàng jìn cài lǐ.
Wash the cilantro, chop it, and put it into the dish.
芫荽，。
Běi fāng rén xǐ huan chī yán sui, nán fāng rén yǒu xiē rén bú tài xí guàn.
Northerners like to eat cilantro, but some southerners aren't used to it.

Single-morpheme word

构词法gòucífǎ

联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

芫yuán

荽suī

The characters 芫 and 荽 do not carry independent meanings here; together they name coriander.

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

艸艸cǎograss; plant

Sound part声符shēngfú

元

Same sound today

芫 pairs the plant radical 艸 with 元, which gives the character its sound.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

艹妥荽

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant

Sound part声符shēngfú

妥

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

荽 combines 艹 (grass; plant) with 妥, which gives the sound. The 艹 part shows it is a plant, here coriander.