茉莉 (mò lì) — jasmine | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

jasmine

Measure word · 朵

Examples

茉莉。
Tā xǐ huan zài huā yuán lǐ zhǒng mò lì.
She likes to plant jasmine in the garden.
茉莉。
Zhè bēi mò lì chá wén qǐ lái hěn xiāng.
This cup of jasmine tea smells very fragrant.
茉莉。
Zhè kuǎn xiāng shuǐ yǒu mò lì de wèi dào.
This perfume has a scent of jasmine.

Origin

Single-morpheme word

构词法gòucífǎ

联绵liánmiánBound pair

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

莉lì

The characters 茉 and 莉 carry no meaning of their own here; together they name jasmine.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

末

Same sound today

茉 is built from 艸 (grass) plus 末, which gives its sound.

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

艹利莉

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎo

Sound part声符shēngfú

利

Same sound today

莉 has 艹 at the top to mark a plant, and 利 below to give its sound.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Plants & Flowers

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