椰子树 (yē zǐ shù) — coconut tree; coconut palm

Definition

noun
coconut treecoconut palm
Measure word · 棵

Examples

  • 椰子树。
    Hǎi biān yǒu hěn duō yē zǐ shù.
    There are many coconut trees by the sea.
  • 椰子树。
    Zhè kē yē zǐ shù cháng dé fēi cháng gāo.
    This coconut tree grows very tall.
  • 椰子树。
    Tā men yòng yē zǐ shù de yè zi zuò le wū dǐng.
    They made a roof with the leaves of the coconut tree.

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.

椰子
椰yēcoconut子zǐ
后缀Suffix
树shùtree

椰子 denotes the coconut, and 树 denotes tree, so 椰子树 is the tree that bears 椰子.

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
木木mùtree
Sound part声符shēngfú
耶
耶yē椰yē
Same sound today

椰 has 木 on the left, showing a tree, and 耶 on the right, giving the yē sound.

Open 椰 →

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

子 is drawn as a baby with a large head, arms stretched out, and legs wrapped in a blanket.

Open 子 →

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 樹; 树 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mùtree
Sound part声符shēngfú
尌
尌shù樹shù
Same sound today

Originally 尌, 'to plant a tree', was written alone; the traditional form 樹 adds 木, 'tree', to it to differentiate.

Open 树 →

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