年糕 (nián gāo) — New Year's cake (a glutinous rice cake traditio…

Definition

A sticky rice cake traditionally eaten at Chinese New Year. The name literally means 'New Year cake' (年 = New Year, 糕 = cake).

noun

New Year's cake (a glutinous rice cake traditionally eaten during Chinese New Year)

Measure word · 块

，年糕。
Guò nián de shí hou, jiā jiā hù hù dōu huì chī nián gāo.
During the New Year, every household eats niangao.
年糕，。
Mā ma zuò le hěn duō nián gāo, ràng wǒ men sòng gěi qīn qi.
Mom made a lot of niangao for us to give to relatives.
年糕，。
Zhè zhǒng nián gāo yòu ruǎn yòu tián, fēi cháng hǎo chī.
This kind of niangao is soft and sweet, very delicious.

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.

年 year and 糕 cake name the cake eaten around the New Year.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

禾禾héwheat; grain

Sound part声符shēngfú

人

人rén年nián

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

年 pairs 禾 (grain) with 人, which gives the sound. Its original meaning was harvest, and it later came to mean a year.

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

米羔糕

Meaning part形符xíngfú

米米mǐrice

Sound part声符shēngfú

羔

羔gāo糕gāo

Same sound today

糕 pairs 米 (rice) with 羔 (lamb). 米 points to a rice-flour food, and 羔 gives the sound; since lamb can be cooked, it may also hint at food.

Appears in