贺卡 (hè kǎ) — congratulatory card; greeting card

Definition

noun

congratulatory cardgreeting card

Measure word · 张

贺卡。
Wǒ gěi tā jì le yì zhāng shēng rì hè kǎ.
I sent her a birthday card.
贺卡。
Zhè zhāng hè kǎ de shè jì hěn piào liang.
The design of this card is very beautiful.
贺卡。
Tā zài shāng diàn lǐ tiāo le yì zhāng xīn nián hè kǎ.
He picked out a New Year card in the store.

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.

贺hècongratulate

贺 gives congratulate and 卡 gives card, so 贺卡 is a card for congratulations.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 賀; 贺 is its simplified writing.

加貝賀

Meaning part形符xíngfú

貝貝bèishellfish money

Sound part声符shēngfú

加

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

The traditional form 賀 pairs 貝 (shellfish money) with 加 as a sound part; the simplified 贺 is a later shorthand, not the historical shape.

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

卡 is made from 上 (up) and 下 (down), with their horizontal lines fused, showing something squeezed between above and below.

Appears in