香干 (xiāng gān) — smoked tofu

Definition

noun
smoked tofu
Measure word · 块
Easily confused

Examples

  • 香干，。
    Wǒ mǎi le yì jīn xiāng gān, dǎ suàn liáng bàn zhe chī.
    I bought half a kilo of smoked tofu and plan to eat it cold with dressing.
  • 香干，。
    Zhè dào cài lǐ fàng le yì xiē xiāng gān, wèi dào gèng xiāng le.
    Adding some smoked tofu to this dish made it more flavorful.
  • 香干。
    xiāng gān Chǎo qín cài shì wǒ zuì xǐ huan de jiā cháng cài zhī yī.
    Stir-fried smoked tofu with celery is one of my favorite home-style dishes.

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.

香xiāngfragrant
干gāndried

香 gives fragrant, and 干 gives dried, naming a fragrant dried tofu.

Characters in this word

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

香's early form paired 黍 (glutinous millet) with 口 (mouth), perhaps showing millet drink being taken in or offered.

Open 香 →

The simplified 干 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (饼干, 干杯) it is 乾; in others (干, 干活儿) (干扰) it is 幹 or 干.

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 乾; 干 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
乙乙yǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
倝
倝gàn乾gān
Same sound today
Open 干 →

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