螺旋藻 (luó xuán zǎo) — spirulina (a blue-green algae used as a dietary…

Definition

noun

spirulina (a blue-green algae used as a dietary supplement)

Measure word · 种

螺旋藻。
Hěn duō rén chī luó xuán zǎo lái bǔ chōng yíng yǎng.
Many people take spirulina to supplement their nutrition.
螺旋藻。
Zhè zhǒng luó xuán zǎo fěn kě yǐ jiā zài guǒ zhī lǐ hē.
This kind of spirulina powder can be added to juice and drunk.
螺旋藻。
luó xuán zǎo Shì yì zhǒng tiān rán de bǎo jiàn shí pǐn.
Spirulina is a natural health food.

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.

螺旋spiral

偏正Modifier + head

藻zǎoalgae

螺 and 旋 give the spiral shape, while 藻 names the algae, together meaning spiral algae.

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.

虫累螺

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

累

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

螺 combines 虫, a part associated with creatures, with 累, which gives the sound.

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

旋 combines 㫃 (a flag), 止 (a foot), and 〇 (a circle), and 〇 also gave the sound.

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

艹澡藻

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎograss

Sound part声符shēngfú

澡

Same sound today

藻 is built from 艹, a grass sign, placed over 澡, which provides the sound zǎo.