茶馆 (chá guǎn) — teahouse | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A 茶馆 is a traditional Chinese teahouse — a casual gathering place where people drink tea, chat, and often watch storytelling (评书) or performances. Unlike a modern 咖啡馆 (café), it has a distinct cultural flavor tied to leisure and socializing.

noun

teahouse

Measure word · 家

Examples

茶馆。
Zhōu mò wǒ men qù chá guǎn hē chá liáo tiān ba.
Let's go to a teahouse to drink tea and chat this weekend.
茶馆。
Zhè jiā chá guǎn de lǎo chá kè hěn duō.
This teahouse has many regular tea drinkers.
茶馆。
Tā zài chá guǎn lǐ tīng le yí xià wǔ de píng shū.
He spent the whole afternoon listening to storytelling at the teahouse.

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 is tea, 馆 is a place, so 茶馆 is a tea place.

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.

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 館; 馆 is its simplified writing.

飠官館

Meaning part形符xíngfú

飠Written in full as食shí

Sound part声符shēngfú

官

官guān館guǎn

Same sound today

The traditional form 館 is made of 食, written as 飠 on the left, and 官 on the right; 官 provides the sound. The simplified 馆 is a later shorthand.

Appears in

Dining & Restaurants

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