米糕 (mǐ gāo) — steamed rice cake | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

steamed rice cake

Measure word · 块

Examples

米糕。
Wǒ zǎo shàng chī le yí kuài mǐ gāo.
I ate a piece of rice cake this morning.
米糕。
Zhè jiā diàn de mǐ gāo wèi dào hěn hǎo.
The rice cake at this shop tastes very good.
米糕。
Mā ma gěi wǒ dài le jǐ gè mǐ gāo.
My mom brought me a few rice cakes.

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.

米 names rice and 糕 names cake, a cake made from rice.

Characters in this word

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

米 is a picture of rice kernels without husk, with the horizontal stroke as a bamboo sieve. It is unrelated to similar-looking grain characters.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

米羔糕

Meaning part形符xíngfú

米米mǐrice

Sound part声符shēngfú

羔

羔gāo糕gāo

Same sound today

糕 pairs 米 (rice) with 羔 (lamb). 米 points to a rice-flour food, and 羔 gives the sound; since lamb can be cooked, it may also hint at food.

Appears in

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