砚台 (yàn tái) — ink stone (used in traditional Chinese calligraphy and painting to grind ink sticks)

Definition

A stone slab used in traditional Chinese calligraphy to grind an ink stick with water. Often valued as a collectible or cultural artifact rather than a daily tool.

noun
ink stone (used in traditional Chinese calligraphy and painting to grind ink sticks)
Measure word · 方

Examples

  • 砚台。
    Yé ye yǒu yí kuài hěn lǎo de yàn tái.
    Grandpa has a very old ink stone.
  • 砚台。
    Shū fǎ jiā zhèng zài yòng yàn tái mó mò.
    The calligrapher is grinding ink on the ink stone.
  • 砚台。
    Zhè ge yàn tái shì míng cháo de wén wù.
    This ink stone is a cultural relic from the Ming dynasty.

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.

砚yàninkstone
台táiplatform

砚 names the inkstone, and 台 means a flat platform.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 臺; 台 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 台 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (窗台, 电视台) it is 臺; in others (台灯, 台球) (台风) it is 檯 or 台 or 颱.

The traditional form 臺 is the 喬 + 室 form; earlier versions combined a sound part with 室, and an old reading saw it as a watch tower.

Open 台 →

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