茉 (mò) — bound morpheme in 茉莉 (jasmine)
Definition
茉 (mò) only appears as the first character of 茉莉 (jasmine). It has no independent meaning — treat it as part of the word 茉莉花.
bound form
bound morpheme in 茉莉 (jasmine)
Easily confused
- 茱zhūlook-alike(bound morpheme) used in 茱萸, dogwood / cornus
- 莫mòsound-alike(literary) do not (prohibitive adverb, equivalent to 不要 in formal contexts)
- 末mòsound-alikethe end, final stage (of a period of time or an object)
- 默mòsound-alikesilent; tacit
- 墨mòsound-alikeink stick (solid ink for calligraphy)
- 陌mòsound-alike(bound form, classical) path between fields
Examples
- 。Zhè bēi chá lǐ yǒu mò lì huā.This cup of tea has jasmine flowers.
- 。Wǒ xǐ huan mò lì huā de xiāng wèi.I like the fragrance of jasmine flowers.
- 。mò Lì shì yì zhǒng bái sè de huā.Jasmine is a white flower.
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.
Meaning part形符xíngfú
艸艸cǎograss
茉 is built from 艸 (grass) plus 末, which gives its sound.
Appears in
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