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油条 (yóu tiáo) — deep-fried breadstick, youtiao

Definition

noun
deep-fried breadstickyoutiao
Measure word · 根

Examples

  • 油条。
    Wǒ qù chāo shì mǎi le liǎng gēn yóu tiáo.
    I went to the supermarket and bought two youtiao.
  • 油条。
    Mā ma zuò de yóu tiáo yòu xiāng yòu hǎo chī.
    The youtiao my mom makes are fragrant and delicious.
  • 油条。
    Tā xǐ huan bǎ yóu tiáo fàng jìn zhōu lǐ chī.
    He likes to put youtiao in congee to eat.

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.

油yóuoil
条tiáostrip

油 “oil” + 条 “strip” describes an oily fried strip.

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
由
由yóu油yóu
Same sound today

油 is built from 氵, a water part, and 由, which supplies the sound.

Open 油 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 條; 条 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mù
Sound part声符shēngfú
攸
攸yōu條tiáo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 條 pairs 木, a small branch or stick, with 攸, which shows a person warned by a hand holding a stick, as a sound part; 条 is a later shortened shape.

Open 条 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5

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