檀香木 (tán xiāng mù) — sandalwood | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

sandalwood

Measure word · 块

檀香木，。
Zhè kuài tán xiāng mù lái zì yìn dù, xiāng wèi hěn chí jiǔ.
This piece of sandalwood comes from India, and its fragrance lasts a long time.
檀香木。
Tā yòng tán xiāng mù diāo kè le yì zūn fó xiàng.
He carved a Buddha statue out of sandalwood.
檀香木。
Hěn duō gāo dàng xiāng shuǐ zhōng dū hán yǒu tán xiāng mù de tí qǔ wù.
Many high-end perfumes contain sandalwood extract.

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.

檀香sandalwood

檀tánsandalwood香xiāngfragrant

主谓Subject + predicate

檀 is sandalwood, 香 means fragrant, and 木 means wood; together they name fragrant sandalwood.

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.

木亶檀

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

亶

亶dǎn檀tán

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

檀 combines 木, tree or wood, with 亶, which points to its sound.

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

香's early form paired 黍 (glutinous millet) with 口 (mouth), perhaps showing millet drink being taken in or offered.

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

木 is drawn as a tree, with branches above and roots below.