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葡萄 (pú tao) — grape

Definition

noun
grape
Measure word · 颗

Examples

  • 葡萄。
    Wǒ men jiā de yuàn zi lǐ zhǒng le yì kē pú tao shù.
    We planted a grapevine in our yard.
  • 葡萄，？
    Zhè xiē pú tao hěn xīn xiān, nǐ yào bú yào cháng yí gè?
    These grapes are very fresh, would you like to try one?
  • 葡萄。
    Mā ma yòng pú tao zuò le hěn hǎo hē de guǒ zhī.
    Mom used grapes to make very tasty juice.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
联绵liánmiánBound pair

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

葡pú
萄táo

Only 葡萄 as a whole means grape; 葡 and 萄 do not carry separate meanings here.

Sound-only characters

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
匍
匍pú葡
Same sound today

葡 is built from 艸 (grass) plus 匍 as the sound part. For the grape meaning, the old explanation also links it to a sprout growing in a field, so the shape points to plants.

Open 葡 →

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
匋
匋táo萄
Same sound today

The top 艹 marks 萄 as a plant, and 匋 gives its sound. The part 匋 also points to making an earthenware jar, possibly for a plant used to make wine.

Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 4HSK 2.0 Level 3Fruits

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