土豆泥 (tǔ dòu ní) — mashed potato | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

mashed potato

Examples

土豆泥。
Wǒ cóng xiǎo jiù xǐ huan chī tǔ dòu ní.
I've loved eating mashed potatoes since I was a child.
土豆泥，。
Mā ma zuò le yì wǎn tǔ dòu ní, wèi dào hěn hǎo.
Mom made a bowl of mashed potatoes, and it tasted great.
土豆泥。
Qǐng gěi wǒ lái yí fèn tǔ dòu ní.
Please give me a serving of mashed potatoes.

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.

土豆potato

土tǔearth豆dòubean

偏正Modifier + head

土豆 means potato and 泥 means mash, together referring to mashed potato.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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

豆 originally drew some kind of container. It was borrowed for its sound to write the plant name, so the picture and the meaning are unrelated.

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

氵尼泥

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

尼

尼ní泥nì

Same sound today

The left side is 氵, the water part; the right side is 尼, which gives the sound.

Appears in

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