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上颚 (shàng è) — hard palate

Definition

Refers specifically to the hard palate (the bony front part of the roof of the mouth), not the soft palate (软颚). '颚' alone is the broader anatomical term for jaw/palate.

noun
hard palate

Examples

  • 上颚，。
    Wǒ de shàng è yǒu diǎn téng, kě néng fā yán le.
    My hard palate hurts a bit; it might be inflamed.
  • ，上颚。
    Chī dōng xī de shí hou, shàng è bèi tàng shāng le.
    The hard palate was burned while eating.
  • 上颚，。
    Yá yī jiǎn chá le wǒ de shàng è, shuō méi wèn tí.
    The dentist checked my hard palate and said it's fine.

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.

上shàngupper
颚èjaw

上 gives upper and 颚 names the jaw or palate; together they refer to the upper palate.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

上 is drawn as a short horizontal line placed above a longer arc, marking a position above that arc.

Open 上 →

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 顎; 颚 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yè
Sound part声符shēngfú
咢
咢è顎
Same sound today

The traditional form 顎 pairs 頁, the part carrying the meaning, with 咢, which gives the sound; the simplified 颚 is a later shorthand.

Open 颚 →
Appears in
Body Parts

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