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汽酒 (qì jiǔ) — light sparkling wine

Definition

noun
light sparkling wine

Examples

  • 汽酒。
    Wǒ xǐ huan hē qì jiǔ.
    I like to drink sparkling wine.
  • 汽酒。
    Zhè píng qì jiǔ wèi dào bú cuò.
    This bottle of sparkling wine tastes good.
  • 汽酒。
    Tā mǎi le yì píng qì jiǔ qìng zhù shēng rì.
    He bought a bottle of sparkling wine to celebrate his birthday.

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.

汽qìgas
酒jiǔwine

汽酒 pairs “汽” gas with “酒” wine, describing a bubbly wine.

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
气
气qì汽
Same sound today

The 氵 part is water, and 气 is used for the sound and also means air, so 汽 shows water in an air-like form.

Open 汽 →

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
水水shuǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
酉
酉yǒu酒jiǔ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

酒 pairs 酉, the original picture for this word, with 水 (water), added later to distinguish it.

Open 酒 →
Appears in
Alcohol & Tobacco

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