饮茶 (yǐn chá) — to drink tea; (Cantonese cultural context) to go for yum cha / dim sum

Definition

Literally 'drink tea', but in modern use 饮茶 usually means the Cantonese yum cha / dim sum tradition. Compare with 喝茶, which is the plain everyday 'drink tea' (any tea, any time).

verb
to drink tea(Cantonese cultural context) to go for yum cha / dim sum

Examples

  • 饮茶。
    Wǒ men zhōu mò yì qǐ qù yǐn chá ba.
    Let's go for dim sum together this weekend.
  • 饮茶。
    Tā měi tiān zǎo chén dōu yǒu yǐn chá de xí guàn.
    He has a habit of drinking tea every morning.
  • ，，。
    Zuó tiān wǒ men yǐn le liǎng cì chá, yí cì zài zǎo chá, yí cì zài xià wǔ chá.
    Yesterday we had yum cha twice — once for morning tea and once for afternoon tea.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

饮yǐndrink
茶chátea

'饮' means drink and '茶' tea, so the action is drinking tea.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 飲; 饮 is its simplified writing.

  • 酉酉yǒubottle (of alcoholic beverages)
  • 人人rénperson
  • 口口kǒumouth (occasionally with the tongue protruding)

The traditional form 飲 drew a person bending over a bottle to drink, with a mouth and droplets; this picture is about 飲, not the simplified 饮.

Open 饮 →

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
艹Written in full as艸cǎo
Sound part声符shēngfú
余
余yú茶chá
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 茶, the 艹 part marks a plant, and the 余 part gives the sound.

Open 茶 →

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