茶 (chá) — tea (the drink); tea plant
Definition
茶 (chá) names the drink itself and the plant it comes from. The HSK4 word 茶叶 is just the dried leaves — when you brew and serve 茶, those leaves go in the cup.
noun
tea (the drink)tea plant
Measure word · 杯, 壶
Examples
- ？Nǐ xiǎng hē chá ma?Would you like some tea?
- 。Wǒ hē yì bēi rè chá.I drink a cup of hot tea.
- 茶。Zhè hú chá hěn hǎo.This pot of tea is very good.
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
艹Written in full as艸cǎo
Sound part声符shēngfú
余
余yú茶chá
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.
In 茶, the 艹 part marks a plant, and the 余 part gives the sound.
Appears in
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