果酒 (guǒ jiǔ) — fruit wine | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

fruit wine

Measure word · 杯

果酒。
Wǒ zuó tiān mǎi le yì píng guǒ jiǔ.
I bought a bottle of fruit wine yesterday.
果酒。
Zhè zhǒng guǒ jiǔ de wèi dào hěn tè bié.
This kind of fruit wine has a special taste.
果酒？
Nǐ zì jǐ zuò guò guǒ jiǔ ma?
Have you ever made fruit wine yourself?

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.

“果” names fruit and “酒” names wine, so the word is wine made from fruit.

Characters in this word

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

果 originally drew fruits hanging on a tree.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

酉

酉yǒu酒jiǔ

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

酒 pairs 酉, the original picture for this word, with 水 (water), added later to distinguish it.