干贝 (gān bèi) — dried scallop | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

dried scallop

Easily confused

干贝，。
Zhè dào cài lǐ jiā le gān bèi, wèi dào tè bié xiān.
This dish has dried scallops added, and the flavor is especially savory.
，。
Wǒ mǎi le yì bāo gān bèi, zhǔn bèi bāo tāng yòng.
I bought a bag of dried scallops to use for making soup.
干贝。
gān bèi Xū yào xiān pào fā zài pēng rèn.
Dried scallops need to be rehydrated before cooking.

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.

贝bèishellfish

干 means dried, and 贝 names shellfish, so dried shellfish.

Characters in this word

The simplified 干 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (饼干, 干杯) it is 乾; in others (干, 干活儿) (干扰) it is 幹 or 干.

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 乾; 干 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

倝

倝gàn乾gān

Same sound today

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 貝; 贝 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 貝, not the simplified 贝, shows a cowrie shell used as money in ancient China.