薄荷 (bò he) — mint (the plant or herb) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

mint (the plant or herb)

Measure word · 种

Examples

薄荷，。
Xià tiān wǒ xǐ huan hē bò he chá, hěn qīng liáng.
In summer I like to drink mint tea; it's very refreshing.
薄荷，。
Zhè dào cài lǐ fàng le yì diǎn bò he, wèi dào tè bié xiāng.
This dish has a little mint in it; the flavor is especially fragrant.
薄荷，。
Huā yuán lǐ zhǒng le jǐ zhǒng bò he, yǒu hú jiāo bò he hé lǜ bò he.
Several kinds of mint are planted in the garden, including peppermint and spearmint.

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.

The characters 薄 and 荷 carry no meaning of their own here; together they name mint.

Sound-only characters

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

艹溥薄

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎo

Sound part声符shēngfú

溥

溥pǔ薄báo

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

薄 combines 艹, a grass part, with 溥 as the sound part.

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

何

何hé荷hé

Same sound today

荷 has 艸, the grass/plant form, to show a plant, and 何 to give the sound.

Appears in

Plants & Flowers

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