婚介所 (hūn jiè suǒ) — matchmaking agency; dating service

Definition

noun

matchmaking agencydating service

Measure word · 家

婚介所。
Tā tōng guò hūn jiè suǒ zhǎo dào le nǚ péng you.
He found a girlfriend through a matchmaking agency.
婚介所。
Zhè jiā hūn jiè suǒ de fú wù hěn zhuān yè.
The service of this matchmaking agency is very professional.
婚介所。
Yuè lái yuè duō de dān shēn rén shì xuǎn zé qù hūn jiè suǒ dēng jì.
More and more single people choose to go to matchmaking agencies to register.

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.

婚介marriage introduction

婚hūnmarriage介jièintroduction

偏正Modifier + head

所suǒplace; office

婚 and 介 give marriage introduction, and 所 means a place.

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.

女昏婚

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

昏

Same sound today

婚 uses 女 (woman) for the meaning and 昏 for the sound hūn.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

介 shows a central human form with two marks around it, indicating being between.

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

戶斤所

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

戶

戶hù所suǒ

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

所 pairs 斤, an axe, with 戶, which gives the sound hù; the old meaning was the sound of logging.