面团 (miàn tuán) — dough | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

dough

Measure word · 块

面团。
Tā yòng miàn fěn hé shuǐ zuò le yí gè miàn tuán.
She made a dough with flour and water.
面团。
Qǐng bǎ miàn tuán róu dé guāng huá yì xiē.
Please knead the dough until it's smooth.
面团。
Zhè ge miàn tuán xū yào fā jiào yí gè xiǎo shí.
This dough needs to rise for one hour.

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.

面 (flour) + 团 (lump) names a kneaded mass of flour.

Characters in this word

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

面 originally drew a man’s face, with one eye exaggerated; the horizontal stroke was added later.

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 團; 团 is its simplified writing.

囗專團

Meaning part形符xíngfú

囗囗wéi

Sound part声符shēngfú

專

專zhuān團tuán

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The form 團 combines 囗 as a meaning part with 專 as a sound part; the story is about 團, not about 团.

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