野炊 (yě chuī) — to cook a meal outdoors (camping, picnic, etc.)

Definition

verb
to cook a meal outdoors (camping, picnic, etc.)

Examples

  • 野炊。
    Zhōu mò wǒ men yì qǐ qù hé biān yě chuī ba.
    Let's go cook a meal by the river this weekend.
  • 野炊。
    yě chuī De shí hou yào zhù yì yòng huǒ ān quán.
    When cooking outdoors, you need to be careful with fire safety.
  • 野炊。
    Tā men dài le hěn duō shí cái qù shān lǐ yě chuī.
    They brought a lot of ingredients to cook a meal in the mountains.

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.

野yěoutdoors
炊chuīcook

The sense of outdoors joins with cook to mean prepare a meal in the open.

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
田田tiánfield
土土tǔearth
Sound part声符shēngfú
予
予yǔ野yě
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

野 combines 田 (field) above 土 (earth) to show open country, with 予 giving the sound.

Open 野 →

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
火火huǒfire
Sound part声符shēngfú
吹
吹chuī炊chuī
Same sound today

炊 puts 火 (fire) next to 吹, which supplies the sound; the fire part points to cooking.

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