软木塞 (ruǎn mù sāi) — cork (stopper for a bottle) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

cork (stopper for a bottle)

Measure word · 个

Examples

软木塞，。
Tā bá kāi jiǔ píng shàng de ruǎn mù sāi, dǎo le yì bēi hóng jiǔ.
He pulled the cork from the wine bottle and poured a glass of red wine.
软木塞，。
Zhè ge ruǎn mù sāi yǐ jīng jiù le, hěn nán zài sāi huí qù.
This cork is already old and hard to put back in.
软木塞。
Tā yòng ruǎn mù sāi bǎ xiāng shuǐ píng kǒu dǔ zhù le.
She used a cork to seal the perfume bottle.

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.

软木cork

软ruǎnsoft木mùwood

偏正Modifier + head

塞sāistopper

软 and 木 make 软木, which names cork, and 塞 names the stopper.

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 軟; 软 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

車車jūcarriage

Sound part声符shēngfú

耎

耎ruǎn軟ruǎn

Same sound today

The traditional form 軟 pairs 車 (carriage) with 耎 as a sound part; 耎 depicted a man under rain, and simplified 软 uses a later right side instead of 耎.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

木 is drawn as a tree, with branches above and roots below.

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

宀宀miánhouse
工工gōngtwo items
廾廾gǒngtwo hands

塞 combines 宀 (house), 工 (two items), and 廾 (two hands), showing hands stuffing items into a house.

Appears in

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