糖水 (Táng shuǐ) — a sweet soup or dessert (Cantonese-style; made with beans, fruit, sago, etc.)

Definition

糖水 (tángshuǐ) is a Cantonese dessert soup of beans, fruit, or sago simmered in sweet water — eaten as a snack or after a meal, not drunk as a beverage.

noun
a sweet soup or dessert (Cantonese-style; made with beans, fruit, sago, etc.)
Measure word · 碗

Examples

  • 糖水。
    Wǒ xià tiān xǐ huan hē yì wǎn Táng shuǐ.
    I like to have a bowl of sweet soup in summer.
  • 糖水。
    Zhè jiā Táng shuǐ diàn de hóng dòu shā hěn hǎo hē.
    The red bean soup at this sweet soup shop is delicious.
  • 糖水，。
    Tā qǐng wǒ men chī Táng shuǐ, shuō shì guǎng dōng de tè sè.
    She treated us to sweet soup, saying it's a specialty of Guangdong.

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.

糖tángsugar
水shuǐwater

糖 and 水 make sugar water, a sweetened liquid or dessert.

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
米米mǐrice
Sound part声符shēngfú
唐
唐táng糖
Same sound today

糖 is made from 米 (rice) and 唐, which gives the sound táng.

Open 糖 →

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

水 is a simple drawing of water flowing.

Open 水 →

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