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调配 (tiáo pèi) — to mix, to blend (ingredients, colors, chemicals, etc.)

Definition

调配 focuses on mixing/blending ingredients or chemicals in specific proportions. The blend sense (颜料、试剂) is distinct from 搭配, which pairs or matches items by style/color.

verb
to mixto blend (ingredients, colors, chemicals, etc.)

Examples

  • 调配。
    Huà jiā yòng hóng sè hé lán sè tiáo pèi chū le zǐ sè.
    The painter mixed red and blue to make purple.
  • ，调配。
    Pēng rèn shí, yào àn bǐ lì tiáo pèi gè zhǒng tiáo liào.
    When cooking, you need to mix the various seasonings according to proportion.
  • ，调配。
    Shí yàn shì lǐ, jì shù rén yuán zhèng zài jīng què tiáo pèi huà xué shì jì.
    In the lab, technicians are precisely mixing chemical reagents.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

调tiáomix
配pèiallocate

调 (mix) and 配 (allocate) combine to mean blending and distributing.

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 →

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

  • 酉酉yǒualcohol vessel
  • 卩卩jiékneeling person

配 is formed by putting 酉, an alcohol vessel, next to 卩, a kneeling person. The reference gives these two parts, but not the reason they combine.

Open 配 →
Appears in
Cooking

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