生菜 (shēng cài) — lettuce | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

lettuce

Measure word · 棵

生菜。
Mā ma bǎ shēng cài xǐ gān jìng le.
Mom washed the lettuce clean.
生菜。
Wǒ mǎi le yì kē shēng cài.
I bought a head of lettuce.
生菜，。
shēng cài Hěn xīn xiān, kě yǐ shēng chī.
The lettuce is very fresh; you can eat it raw.

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.

生shēngraw/uncooked

菜càivegetable

生 “raw/uncooked” with 菜 “vegetable” names lettuce as a salad vegetable.

Characters in this word

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

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.

艹采菜

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant

Sound part声符shēngfú

采

Same sound today

菜 has 艹 (grass/plants) on top and 采 below; the top part shows it is a plant, while 采 gives the sound.

Appears in