蚜虫 (yá chóng) — aphid; plant louse | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

aphidplant louse

Measure word · 只

Examples

蚜虫。
Zhè xiē yá chóng zhèng zài xī shí zhí wù de zhī yè.
These aphids are sucking the sap from the plants.
蚜虫。
Nóng mín yòng nóng yào lái xiāo miè yá chóng.
Farmers use pesticides to kill aphids.
蚜虫，。
yá chóng Suī rán hěn xiǎo, dàn duì zhuāng jia wēi hài hěn dà.
Although aphids are very small, they cause great harm to crops.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

蚜yáaphid

虫chónginsect

蚜 names the aphid kind and 虫 names an insect, so the word means aphid.

Characters in this word

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

虫牙蚜

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

牙

牙yá蚜yá

Same sound today

蚜 pairs 虫, showing it is an insect, with 牙 as the sound part.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 蟲; 虫 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 蟲 is the one the reference discusses; 虫 is also a traditional character on its own.

Appears in

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