茶花女 (chá huā nǚ) — Camille (the heroine of Alexandre Dumas fils's novel La Dame aux Camélias)

Definition

Title of Dumas fils's 19th-century novel 'La Dame aux Camélias', and the name of its heroine, a courtesan. The Chinese name literally means 'the lady of the camellia'.

noun
Camille (the heroine of Alexandre Dumas fils's novel La Dame aux Camélias)

Examples

  • ，《茶花女》。
    Wǒ zuì jìn dú le yì běn xiǎo shuō, jiào 《chá huā nǚ》.
    I recently read a novel called 'La Dame aux Camélias'.
  • 茶花女，。
    chá huā nǚ De gù shi fēi cháng gǎn rén, ràng rén liú lèi.
    The story of Camille is very touching and makes people cry.
  • 《茶花女》。
    Diàn yǐng 《chá huā nǚ》 de yǎn yuán biǎo yǎn dé hěn chū sè.
    The actors in the film 'Camille' performed excellently.

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.

茶花camellia
茶chátea花huāflower
偏正Modifier + head
女nǚwoman

茶花 names the camellia, and 女 is the woman linked to it.

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
艹Written in full as艸cǎo
Sound part声符shēngfú
余
余yú茶chá
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 茶, the 艹 part marks a plant, and the 余 part gives the sound.

Open 茶 →

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
艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant
Sound part声符shēngfú
化
化huà花
Same sound today

花 pairs 艹 (grass; plant) with 化, which gives the sound.

Open 花 →

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

女 shows a woman with folded arms, kneeling or standing. In the modern form the figure faces right, and the small enclosed part is what is left of one arm.

Open 女 →

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