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硬化 (yìng huà) — to harden

Definition

A change-of-state verb meaning something becomes hard (concrete materials like cement, glue, or body tissues like arteries). Often paired with 已经 + 了 to mark a completed change.

verb
to harden

Examples

  • 硬化。
    Shuǐ ní zài kōng qì lǐ huì màn màn yìng huà.
    Cement will slowly harden in the air.
  • 硬化。
    Yī shēng shuō tā fù qīn de bù fen dòng mài yǐ jīng yìng huà le.
    The doctor said some of his father's arteries have already hardened.
  • 硬化。
    Zhè zhǒng jiāo shuǐ yù dào kōng qì jiù huì yìng huà.
    This kind of glue hardens when it meets air.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

硬yìnghard
化huàbecome

硬 gives the sense of hard, and 化 adds the idea of becoming, so the result is to become hard.

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
石石shí
Sound part声符shēngfú
更
更gèng硬yìng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

硬 is built from 石, meaning stone, to show hardness or stiffness, and 更, which gives the sound.

Open 硬 →

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

化 shows two person figures, one upright and one upside down, to give the idea of reversal or change.

Open 化 →
Appears in
Change & Process

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