燕麦片 (yàn mài piàn) — oatmeal, rolled oats | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

oatmealrolled oats

Examples

燕麦片。
Wǒ měi tiān zǎo shàng chī yàn mài piàn.
I eat oatmeal every morning.
燕麦片。
Zhè zhǒng yàn mài piàn hěn yǒu yíng yǎng.
This kind of rolled oats is very nutritious.
燕麦片。
Qǐng bāng wǒ mǎi yì hé yàn mài piàn.
Please help me buy a box of rolled oats.

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.

燕麦oat

燕yànswallow麦màigrain

偏正Modifier + head

燕 (a bird) and 麦 (grain) name the oat plant, and 片 turns it into flakes.

Characters in this word

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

燕 comes from a picture of a swallow.

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 麥; 麦 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

夊夊suīfootprint pointing down; to walk slowly

Sound part声符shēngfú

來

來lái麥mài

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

For 麦, the traditional form 麥 pairs 來, which gives the sound and once meant wheat, with 夊, a footprint pointing down for slow walking.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Appears in

Grains & Staples

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