抽烟 (chōu yān) — to smoke (a cigarette or pipe)

Definition

Refers specifically to smoking tobacco (cigarettes, a pipe). 抽 alone is the general 'to pull/draw' verb — 抽烟 narrows it to smoking.

verb

to smoke (a cigarette or pipe)

抽烟。
Tā měi tiān dōu yào chōu yān.
He smokes every day.
。
Tā chōu le yì gēn yān jiù chū qù le.
He smoked a cigarette and went out.
抽烟。
Yī shēng ràng tā bú yào zài chōu yān le.
The doctor told him not to smoke anymore.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

抽chōudraw/puff

烟yāntobacco/smoke

抽 “draw/puff” and 烟 “tobacco/smoke” combine to mean smoke a cigarette or pipe.

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.

扌由抽

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒuhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

由

由yóu抽chōu

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

The left part 扌 is the hand form, written in full as 手, and the right part 由 provides the sound.

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 煙; 烟 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 烟 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (烟) it is 煙; in others it is 菸.

火垔煙

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

垔

垔yīn煙yān

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

This story is about the traditional form 煙, not the simplified 烟. It pairs 火, fire, with 垔, which gives the sound.

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