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油画 (yóu huà) — oil painting

Definition

A painting made with oil paints. The first character 油 means 'oil' (the medium), so 油画 = 'oil painting' — distinct from 油漆, which is paint/lacquer you apply to walls.

noun
oil painting
Measure word · 幅

Examples

  • 油画。
    Tā zhèng zài huà yì fú yóu huà.
    She is painting an oil painting.
  • 油画。
    Wǒ xǐ huan zài qiáng shàng guà yóu huà.
    I like to hang oil paintings on the wall.
  • 油画。
    Tā huā le hěn duō shí jiān huà zhè fú yóu huà.
    He spent a lot of time painting this oil painting.

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
画huàpainting

油画 combines 油 (oil) with 画 (painting), meaning a painting made with oil-based paint.

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 畫; 画 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
聿聿yùbrush
Sound part声符shēngfú
規
規guī畫huà
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 畫 pairs 聿, a brush, with 規 for its sound. The simplified 画 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the old parts.

Open 画 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Art & Fine Arts

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