小萝卜 (xiǎo luó bo) — radish | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

radish

Measure word · 个

小萝卜。
Wǒ xǐ huan chī xiǎo luó bo.
I like to eat radishes.
小萝卜。
Mā ma zài cài shì chǎng mǎi le jǐ gè xiǎo luó bo.
Mom bought a few radishes at the market.
小萝卜。
Zhè xiē xiǎo luó bo hěn xīn xiān.
These radishes are very fresh.

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.

萝卜radish

联绵Bound pair

小 (small) narrows 萝卜 (radish), the name of the vegetable.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 小 comes from three small dots, later elongated into its strokes; the apparent parts 八 and 丨 are a later way of seeing it.

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 蘿; 萝 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艸艸cǎo

Sound part声符shēngfú

羅

羅luó蘿luó

Same sound today

The traditional form 蘿 combines 艸 (plants) with 羅, which shows the pronunciation; the simplified 萝 is a later shorthand.

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

卜 is thought to come from the shape of a crack in an oracle bone, which was used for predicting the future.