咸菜 (xián cài) — salted vegetables; pickles

Definition

noun

salted vegetablespickles

Measure word · 棵

咸菜。
Nǎi nai zì jǐ yān de xián cài tè bié hǎo chī.
The pickles my grandma makes herself are especially delicious.
咸菜，。
Hē zhōu de shí hou pèi diǎn xián cài, wèi dào gèng xiāng.
Having some salted vegetables with congee makes it taste even better.
咸菜，、蕻。
Chāo shì lǐ mài de xián cài zhǒng lèi hěn duō, yǒu luó bo gān, xuě lǐ hóng děng děng.
The supermarket sells many kinds of pickles, such as dried radish and snow cabbage.

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.

菜càivegetable

咸 means salty, and 菜 means vegetable, so the word names salted vegetables.

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

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.

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

艹采菜

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant

Sound part声符shēngfú

采

Same sound today

菜 has 艹 (grass/plants) on top and 采 below; the top part shows it is a plant, while 采 gives the sound.