椰林 (yē lín) — coconut grove; coconut trees

Definition

noun

coconut grovecoconut trees

Measure word · 片

椰林。
Hǎi biān yǒu yí piàn měi lì de yē lín.
There is a beautiful coconut grove by the seaside.
椰林，。
Wǒ men chuān guò yē lín, kàn dào le shā tān.
We walked through the coconut grove and saw the beach.
椰林。
yē lín Lǐ zhǎng mǎn le gāo dà de yē zi shù.
The coconut grove is full of tall coconut trees.

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yēcoconut

椰 gives coconut and 林 gives grove, so the word names a grove of coconut trees.

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.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

木木林

林 is made of two 木 (tree) placed side by side, showing many trees together, hence a forest.