调理 (tiáo lǐ) — to recuperate, to nurse (one's health); to discipline, to train, to teach; (dialectal) to tease, to make fun of

Definition

Verb with three distinct senses: recuperate (health, 调理身体), train/discipline (people or animals), and dialectally tease. The health sense is the most common in modern standard Chinese.

verb
to recuperateto nurse (one's health)to disciplineto trainto teach(dialectal) to teaseto make fun of
Easily confused

Examples

  • 调理。
    Shǒu shù hòu tā xū yào hǎo hǎo tiáo lǐ shēn tǐ.
    After the surgery, he needs to recuperate his body well.
  • 调理。
    Lǎo shī hěn huì tiáo lǐ nà xiē tiáo pí de xué shēng.
    The teacher is very good at disciplining those naughty students.
  • ，调理。
    Nǐ bié tīng tā xiā shuō, tā shì zài tiáo lǐ nǐ ne.
    Don't listen to his nonsense — he's teasing you.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

调tiáoregulate
理lǐmanage

调 expresses regulating and 理 expresses managing, together meaning to nurse, arrange, or look after.

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
玉玉yùjade
Sound part声符shēngfú
里
里lǐ理lǐ
Same sound today

理 pairs 玉 (jade) with 里, which shows how to say it; the jade part points to the old sense of polishing jade.

Open 理 →

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