椰子汁 (yē zi zhī) — coconut water | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

coconut water

Measure word · 杯

椰子汁。
Wǒ hē le yì bēi yē zi zhī.
I drank a glass of coconut water.
椰子汁。
yē zi zhī Hěn hǎo hē.
Coconut water tastes good.
椰子汁。
Xià tiān hē yē zi zhī hěn jiě kě.
Drinking coconut water in summer is very thirst-quenching.

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 palm子zǐfruit

偏正Modifier + head

椰子 names the coconut and 汁 the liquid, so together they mean coconut water.

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.

木耶椰

Meaning part形符xíngfú

木木mùtree

Sound part声符shēngfú

耶

Same sound today

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

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.

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

氵十汁

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

十

十shí汁zhī(r)

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

汁 has 氵, a form of 水, on the left and 十 on the right. The water part shows it is about a liquid, and 十 gives the sound.