纸质 (zhǐ zhì) — paper (medium), hard-copy, printed (as opposed to electronic); paper quality

Definition

Used as an attributive meaning 'paper / printed / hard-copy' — refers to the physical medium (纸质书, 纸质文件) as opposed to electronic. In a second sense it means 'paper quality' (纸的纸质).

noun
paper (medium)hard-copyprinted (as opposed to electronic)paper quality

Examples

  • 纸质。
    Wǒ gèng xǐ huan dú zhǐ zhì shū.
    I prefer reading physical books.
  • 纸质。
    Zhè zhāng zhǐ de zhǐ zhì hěn hǎo.
    The quality of this paper is very good.
  • 纸质。
    Qǐng bǎ zhǐ zhì wén jiàn fā gěi wǒ.
    Please send me the printed documents.

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.

纸zhǐpaper
质zhìquality

纸, meaning paper, combines with 质, meaning quality, to refer to paper quality or paper medium.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 紙; 纸 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糸糸mìsilk
Sound part声符shēngfú
氏
氏shì紙zhǐ
Same sound today

For 纸, the traditional form 紙 combines 糸 (silk) with 氏 (the sound part).

Open 纸 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 質; 质 is its simplified writing.

  • 斦斦yín
  • 貝貝bèi

The traditional form 質 is made up of 貝 and 斦; this describes 質, not the simplified 质.

Open 质 →

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