塔夫绸 (tǎ fū chóu) — taffeta | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

taffeta

Measure word · 块

塔夫绸。
Tā mǎi le yí kuài tǎ fū chóu zuò wǎn lǐ fú.
She bought a piece of taffeta to make an evening gown.
塔夫绸，。
Zhè zhǒng tǎ fū chóu shǒu gǎn hěn guāng huá, shì hé zuò qún zi.
This kind of taffeta feels very smooth and is suitable for making skirts.
塔夫绸，。
tǎ fū chóu Shì yì zhǒng jīng diǎn de zhī wù, cháng yòng yú gāo jí fú zhuāng.
Taffeta is a classic fabric, often used in high-end clothing.

Single-morpheme word

构词法gòucífǎ

音译yīnyìTransliteration

The characters spell the sound of a foreign word; their individual meanings play no part.

The characters carry no meaning of their own here; 塔夫绸 spells a foreign fabric name.

Sound-only characters

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

土荅塔

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

荅

荅dá塔tǎ

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

塔 shows 土 (earth) for the meaning and 荅 (dá) for the sound.

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

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

夫 originally drew a man. It was borrowed purely for its sound to write a pronoun, so the picture and the pronoun meaning are unrelated.

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 綢; 绸 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

糸糸mìsilk

Sound part声符shēngfú

周

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 綢, the left part 糸 is silk and the right part 周 is used for the sound; the simplified 绸 is a later shorthand.