琥珀 (hǔ pò) — amber | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

amber

Measure word · 块

Examples

琥珀。
Zhè kuài hǔ pò lǐ fēng zhe yì zhī gǔ lǎo de kūn chóng.
This piece of amber contains an ancient insect.
琥珀，。
Tā dài le yì tiáo hǔ pò xiàng liàn, yán sè fēi cháng piào liang.
She wore an amber necklace with a very beautiful color.
琥珀。
Bó wù guǎn zhǎn chū le yí kuài jù dà de hǔ pò huà shí.
The museum exhibited a huge piece of amber fossil.

Origin

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 琥 and 珀 carry no separate meaning here; together they name amber.

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

玉玉yùjade

Sound part声符shēngfú

虎

Same sound today

琥 combines 玉 (jade) with 虎; 虎 gives the sound.

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

玉玉yùjade

Sound part声符shēngfú

白

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

珀 combines 玉 (jade) and 白; the 白 side gives the sound.

Appears in

Materials & Substances

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