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早点 (zǎo diǎn) — light breakfast

Definition

noun
light breakfast
Measure word · 份

Examples

  • 早点。
    Wǒ měi tiān zǎo shàng dōu chī zǎo diǎn.
    I eat a light breakfast every morning.
  • 早点。
    Jīn tiān de zǎo diǎn hěn hǎo chī.
    Today's light breakfast was very tasty.
  • 早点。
    Wǒ men yì qǐ qù chī zǎo diǎn ba.
    Let's go eat a light breakfast together.

Origin

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.

早zǎomorning
点diǎnsnack

早 means morning and 点 refers to a light food, so the word is a morning snack.

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
日日rìsun
Sound part声符shēngfú
棗
棗zǎo早zǎo
Same sound today

The form 早 pairs 日 (sun) with 棗, which gives the sound; an earlier shape of 早 was a picture of an acorn.

Open 早 →

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 點; 点 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
黑黑hēiblack
Sound part声符shēngfú
占
占zhàn點diǎn(r)
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 點 pairs 黑 (black) with 占 for its sound; the simplified 点 is a later abbreviation.

Open 点 →
Appears in
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