咖啡色 (kā fēi sè) — brown, coffee-colored

Definition

noun

browncoffee-colored

咖啡色。
Zhè jiàn dà yī shì kā fēi sè de.
This coat is coffee-colored.
咖啡色。
Tā xǐ huan chuān kā fēi sè de xié zi.
He likes to wear brown shoes.
咖啡色。
kā fēi sè De shā fā kàn qǐ lái hěn wēn nuǎn.
The coffee-colored sofa looks very warm.

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.

咖啡coffee

咖kā啡fēi

“咖啡” spells coffee and “色” means color, so it names a coffee-like brown.

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.

口加咖

Meaning part形符xíngfú

口口kǒumouth

Sound part声符shēngfú

加

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

The left part is 口, showing a mouth, and the right part is 加, which gives the sound jiā.

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

口非啡

Meaning part形符xíngfú

口口kǒumouth

Sound part声符shēngfú

非

Same sound today

啡 combines 口 (mouth) with 非, which supplies the sound.

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

色 pairs 爪 (a hand) with 卩 (a kneeling person), showing a hand pressing down on the kneeling person.

Appears in