璞玉 (pú yù) — uncut jade | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

uncut jade

Measure word · 块

璞玉。
Zhè kuài pú yù hái méi yǒu jīng guò dǎ mó.
This piece of uncut jade hasn't been polished yet.
璞玉。
Tā zài gǔ wán diàn kàn dào yí kuài pú yù.
He saw a piece of uncut jade at the antique shop.
璞玉，。
pú yù Suī rán cū cāo, dàn jià zhí hěn gāo.
Although uncut jade is rough, its value is very high.

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.

璞púraw/uncut

璞玉 pairs '璞' (raw/uncut) with '玉' (jade), referring to uncut jade.

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

玉玉yùjade

Sound part声符shēngfú

菐

菐pú璞pú

Same sound today

璞 pairs 玉, showing jade, with 菐, which gives its sound.

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

玉 was drawn as a ritual jade piece, or as jade pieces strung together, and was made distinct from 王 by adding a dot.