草堆 (cǎo duī) — haystack | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

haystack

Measure word · 个

草堆。
Tián biān yǒu yí gè dà cǎo duī.
There is a big haystack by the field.
草堆。
Hái zi men zài cǎo duī lǐ wán zhuō mí cáng.
The children are playing hide-and-seek in the haystack.
草堆。
Nóng mín bǎ gān cǎo duī chéng le cǎo duī.
The farmer stacked the dry grass into a haystack.

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.

草cǎograss/straw

草 (grass/straw) and 堆 (pile) combine to mean a pile of straw.

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.

艹早草

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant

Sound part声符shēngfú

早

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

草 pairs 艹 (grass; plant) with 早, which gives the sound. The form originally referred to another word and was later used for the grass sense.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

土隹堆

Meaning part形符xíngfú

土土tǔearth

Sound part声符shēngfú

隹

隹zhuī堆duī

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

堆 is built from 土 (earth) and 隹, which supplies the sound.

Appears in