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辣椒粉 (là jiāo fěn) — chili powder

Definition

noun
chili powder

Examples

  • 辣椒粉。
    Wǒ zài cài lǐ fàng le yì diǎn là jiāo fěn.
    I put a little chili powder in the dish.
  • 辣椒粉，。
    Zhè zhǒng là jiāo fěn bú tài là, shì hé zuò zhàn liào.
    This kind of chili powder is not too spicy; it's good for making dipping sauce.
  • 辣椒粉。
    Chāo shì xīn jìn de là jiāo fěn bǐ yǐ qián de gèng xiāng.
    The chili powder newly stocked in the supermarket is more fragrant than the previous one.

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.

辣椒chili pepper
辣làspicy椒jiāopepper
偏正Modifier + head
粉fěnpowder

辣 gives spicy, 椒 gives pepper, and 粉 gives powder, so the word names powdered chili.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
辛辛xīn
Sound part声符shēngfú
束
剌là辣là
Same sound today

辣 is built from 辛, which carries the meaning, and 束, written in full as 剌, which carries the sound.

Open 辣 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 椒 →

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
米米mǐrice
Sound part声符shēngfú
分
分fēn粉fěn
Same sound today

粉 pairs 米 (rice) with 分 for its sound. The rice part points to face powder made from rice.

Open 粉 →
Appears in
Flavors & Seasonings

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