唾液 (tuò yè) — saliva | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Formal/scientific term for 'saliva.' 口水 is the everyday spoken word.

noun

saliva

Examples

唾液。
tuò yè Néng bāng zhù qīng jié kǒu qiāng.
Saliva helps clean the mouth.
，唾液。
Wén dào xiāng wèi shí, zuǐ lǐ huì fēn mì tuò yè.
When you smell a fragrance, your mouth secretes saliva.
唾液。
Zhè zhǒng yào huì jiǎn shǎo tuò yè de fēn mì.
This medicine reduces the secretion of saliva.

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.

液yèliquid

The 唾 sense of spit and the 液 sense of liquid combine to mean saliva.

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.

口垂唾

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

垂

垂chuí唾tuò

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

唾 combines 口, a mouth, with 垂, which gives the sound. The mouth part connects it to saliva.

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

氵夜液

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

夜

夜yè液yè

Same sound today

The left side 氵 is water, and the right side 夜 gives the sound; together they form 液, a liquid, like water.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Body Parts

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