蓼 (liǎo) — (bound form) knotweed; plants of the Polygonaceae family
Definition
蓼 (liǎo) is a bound morpheme referring to knotweeds and related herbs of the Polygonaceae family. It almost never stands alone — you'll see it in compounds like 水蓼 and 蓼科.
bound form
knotweedplants of the Polygonaceae family
Examples
- 蓼。Là liǎo shì yì zhǒng cháng jiàn de cǎo běn zhí wù.Red-knees is a common herbaceous plant.
- 蓼。liǎo Kē zhí wù zhōng yǒu bù shǎo kě yǐ rù yào.Many plants in the knotweed family can be used as medicine.
- 蓼。Shuǐ liǎo xǐ huan cháng zài cháo shī de hé àn biān.Water pepper likes to grow on damp riverbanks.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost 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
翏
翏liù蓼liǎo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.
蓼 is built from 艹 (grass) plus 翏, which supplies the sound; 艹 points to a plant meaning.
Appears in
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