向日葵 (xiàng rì kuí) — sunflower | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

sunflower

Measure word · 棵

向日葵。
Wǒ qù nián zài huā yuán lǐ zhǒng le hěn duō xiàng rì kuí.
I planted many sunflowers in the garden last year.
向日葵。
xiàng rì kuí Zǒng shì cháo zhe tài yáng de fāng xiàng.
Sunflowers always face toward the sun.
，向日葵。
Qiū tiān de shí hou, wǒ men kě yǐ bǎ xiàng rì kuí de zhǒng zi chǎo lái chī.
In autumn, we can stir-fry sunflower seeds to eat.

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.

向日turning toward the sun

动宾Verb + object

葵kuímallow plant

「向」 and 「日」 picture turning toward the sun, joined with 「葵」 for the mallow-like flower.

Characters in this word

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

向 originally drew 宀 (house) with 口 to show an echo in a place; later it was used for direction.

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

日 originally drew the sun. A mark was added inside to tell it apart from similar square shapes.

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

艹癸葵

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎograss, plant

Sound part声符shēngfú

癸

癸guǐ葵kuí

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

葵 uses 艹 (grass, plant) to show it is a kind of plant and 癸 to give its sound.

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