咸肉 (xián ròu) — salted meat, bacon | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

salted meatbacon

Measure word · 块

Examples

咸肉。
Zǎo cān wǒ chī le liǎng piàn xián ròu.
I ate two slices of bacon for breakfast.
咸肉。
Zhè pán xián ròu chǎo fàn hěn yǒu wèi dào.
This plate of salted meat fried rice is very flavorful.
咸肉。
Tā zài chāo shì mǎi le yí kuài xián ròu.
He bought a piece of salted meat at the supermarket.

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.

咸 (salty) describes 肉 (meat), giving salted meat.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 鹹; 咸 is its simplified writing.

鹵咸鹹

Meaning part形符xíngfú

鹵鹵lǔsalt

Sound part声符shēngfú

咸

咸xián鹹xián

Same sound today

The traditional form 鹹 pairs 鹵 (salt) with 咸 as a sound part; the simplified 咸 is a shorthand, and its parts are not the historical components.

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

The original shape of 肉 showed ribs of an animal’s torso, or simply a slice of meat.

Appears in

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