芜菁 (wú jīng) — turnip | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

turnip

Measure word · 个

芜菁。
Zhè zhǒng wú jīng bǐ luó bo wèi dào gèng tián.
This kind of turnip is sweeter than radish.
芜菁。
Mā ma yòng wú jīng zuò le yì guō tāng.
Mom made a pot of soup with turnip.
芜菁。
Chāo shì jīn tiān mài de wú jīng hěn xīn xiān.
The turnips sold at the supermarket today are very fresh.

Single-morpheme word

构词法gòucífǎ

联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

The two characters together name a turnip-like plant; 芜 and 菁 have no meaning of their own here.

Sound-only characters

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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

艸艸cǎograss

Sound part声符shēngfú

青

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

菁 is written with 艸 (grass) above 青; 青 gives the sound.