叶酸 (yè suān) — folic acid; folate (vitamin B9) | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

folic acidfolate (vitamin B9)

Examples

叶酸。
Yī shēng jiàn yì yùn fù bǔ chōng yè suān.
The doctor recommends that pregnant women supplement with folic acid.
叶酸。
Shēn lǜ sè shū cài zhōng hán yǒu fēng fù de yè suān.
Dark green vegetables are rich in folic acid.
叶酸。
Quē fá yè suān kě néng huì yǐng xiǎng tāi ér fā yù.
A deficiency of folic acid may affect fetal development.

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.

叶 gives leaf, and 酸 gives acid.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

口十叶

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

十

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The form 叶 pairs 口 (mouth) with 十 (ten) as an old form meaning cooperate; it later came to mean leaf because it sounded similar.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

酉夋酸

Meaning part形符xíngfú

酉酉yǒu

Sound part声符shēngfú

夋

夋qūn酸suān

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

酸 is built from 酉 and 夋, and 夋 gives the sound.

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