流苏 (liú sū) — tassels | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

tassels

Measure word · 条

流苏。
Zhè tiáo wéi jīn shàng yǒu yì pái piào liang de liú sū.
This scarf has a row of beautiful tassels.
流苏。
Tā xǐ huan zài bāo shàng guà yí gè liú sū zuò zhuāng shì.
She likes to hang a tassel on her bag as decoration.
流苏。
Gǔ dài guān yuán de mào zi shàng cháng pèi yǒu liú sū.
Ancient officials' hats often had tassels.

Single-morpheme word

构词法gòucífǎ

联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

The characters 流 and 苏 carry no meaning of their own here; together they name tassels.

Sound-only characters

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

㐬

㐬㐬流liú

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

流 has 水, water, and 㐬, which gives the sound. The water part matches meanings such as flow.

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 蘇; 苏 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 苏 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words it is 蘇; in others it is 甦 or 囌.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艸艸cǎograss; plant

Sound part声符shēngfú

穌

穌sū蘇Sū

Same sound today

The traditional form 蘇 uses 艸 (grass; plant) for meaning and 穌 for sound; the simplified 苏 is a later shorthand.

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