水草 (shuǐ cǎo) — aquatic plant, waterweed

Definition

noun

aquatic plantwaterweed

Measure word · 棵

水草。
Zhè tiáo hé lǐ cháng le hěn duō shuǐ cǎo.
There are a lot of waterweeds growing in this river.
水草。
shuǐ cǎo Shì yú lèi de zhòng yào shí wù lái yuán.
Aquatic plants are an important food source for fish.
水草。
Shuǐ zú xiāng lǐ de shuǐ cǎo xū yào dìng qī xiū jiǎn.
The aquatic plants in the aquarium need regular trimming.

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.

水 refers to water, and 草 gives the plant growing in it.

Characters in this word

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

水 is a simple drawing of water flowing.

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

艹早草

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant

Sound part声符shēngfú

早

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

草 pairs 艹 (grass; plant) with 早, which gives the sound. The form originally referred to another word and was later used for the grass sense.