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调味品 (tiáo wèi pǐn) — seasoning, condiment, flavoring

Definition

noun
seasoningcondimentflavoring
Measure word · 种

Examples

  • 调味品。
    Zhè dào cài xū yào jiā yì xiē tiáo wèi pǐn cái hǎo chī.
    This dish needs some seasoning to taste good.
  • 调味品。
    Chāo shì de tiáo wèi pǐn qū yǒu hěn duō zhǒng jiàng yóu hé cù.
    The condiment section of the supermarket has many kinds of soy sauce and vinegar.
  • 调味品。
    Tā xǐ huan zài pēng rèn shí shǐ yòng gè zhǒng tiān rán tiáo wèi pǐn.
    He likes to use various natural seasonings when cooking.

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.

调味season
调tiáoadjust味wèiflavor
动宾Verb + object
品pǐnproduct

调 is to adjust or mix, 味 is flavor, and 品 is a product, so the word names a product used to adjust flavor.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 調; 调 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yán
Sound part声符shēngfú
周
周zhōu調tiáo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 調 pairs 言 (speech) with 周, which shows how it was pronounced. The simplified 调 is a later shorthand.

Open 调 →

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
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
未
未wèi味wèi
Same sound today

味 combines 口 (mouth) with 未, which gives the sound wèi; the mouth part relates to taste.

Open 味 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

品 repeats the same simple shape three times, representing various objects.

Open 品 →
Appears in
Flavors & Seasonings

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