乙肝 (yǐ gān) — hepatitis B | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

hepatitis B

乙肝。
Tā tǐ jiǎn shí chá chū le yǐ gān.
He was diagnosed with hepatitis B during his checkup.
乙肝。
Jiē zhòng yì miáo kě yǐ yǒu xiào yù fáng yǐ gān.
Vaccination can effectively prevent hepatitis B.
乙肝。
Dé le yǐ gān xū yào dìng qī fù chá gān gōng néng.
If you have hepatitis B, you need regular liver function checkups.

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.

'乙' marks the B type, while '肝' points to the liver; together they name hepatitis B.

Characters in this word

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

The origin of 乙 is obscure, with old suggestions including a plant trying to sprout, a fish's intestine or gill bone, or flowing water.

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

⺼Written in full as肉ròuflesh; body part

Sound part声符shēngfú

干

Same sound today

The left part ⺼ shows flesh or a body part, while the right part 干 gives the sound. Together they form 肝.