马兰 (Mǎ lán) — aster (a type of plant, specifically Kalimeris…

Definition

noun

aster (a type of plant, specifically Kalimeris indica)

Measure word · 棵

，马兰。
Chūn tiān de shí hou, rén men xǐ huan cǎi Mǎ lán lái zuò cài.
In spring, people like to pick 马兰 to cook.
马兰。
Lù biān de Mǎ lán cháng dé hěn hǎo.
The 马兰 by the roadside grows very well.
马兰。
Mǎ lán Kāi zǐ sè de xiǎo huā.
The 马兰 has small purple flowers.

Single-morpheme word

构词法gòucífǎ

联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

The characters 马 and 兰 together name the plant and do not contribute separate meanings.

Sound-only characters

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 馬; 马 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 馬 shows a horse with its head facing left, a flowing mane, and two legs standing vertically.

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 蘭; 兰 is its simplified writing.

艹闌蘭

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎoplant

Sound part声符shēngfú

闌

闌lán蘭lán

Same sound today

In the traditional form 蘭, 艹 marks it as a plant and 闌 stands for the sound; the simplified 兰 is a later shorthand, not the original parts.