生姜 (shēng jiāng) — fresh ginger | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

fresh ginger

Measure word · 块

Examples

生姜。
Wǒ zài cài shì chǎng mǎi le yí kuài shēng jiāng.
I bought a piece of fresh ginger at the market.
生姜。
Zhǔ tāng de shí hou fàng jǐ piàn shēng jiāng kě yǐ qù xīng.
Adding a few slices of fresh ginger when making soup can remove the fishy smell.
生姜。
Mā ma yòng shēng jiāng hé hóng táng zhǔ shuǐ gěi wǒ hē.
My mom boiled water with fresh ginger and brown sugar for me to drink.

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.

姜jiāngginger

生 “fresh” + 姜 “ginger” names fresh ginger.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

屮屮chèbud
一一yīground

生 shows 屮 (a bud) above 一 (the ground), drawing a sprout coming up from the earth.

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

女女nǚfemale

Sound part声符shēngfú

羊

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

姜 uses 女 to show a female and 羊 for the sound.

Appears in

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