肉汤 (ròu tāng) — meat broth | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

meat broth

Measure word · 碗

Examples

肉汤。
Zhè wǎn ròu tāng hěn hǎo hē.
This bowl of meat broth is very tasty.
肉汤。
Mā ma zhǔ le yì guō ròu tāng.
Mom cooked a pot of meat broth.
肉汤。
Dōng tiān hē ròu tāng kě yǐ nuǎn shēn tǐ.
Drinking meat broth in winter can warm the body.

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.

Broth made from meat: 肉 names the meat and 汤 names the liquid.

Characters in this word

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

The original shape of 肉 showed ribs of an animal’s torso, or simply a slice of meat.

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 湯; 汤 is its simplified writing.

氵昜湯

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

昜

昜yáng湯tāng

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

For 汤, the shape explained is 湯: 氵 is water, and 昜 gives the sound.

Appears in

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