谷氨酸 (gǔ ān suān) — glutamic acid (an amino acid)

Definition

noun

glutamic acid (an amino acid)

谷氨酸。
gǔ ān suān Shì rén tǐ nèi yì zhǒng zhòng yào de ān jī suān.
Glutamic acid is an important amino acid in the human body.
谷氨酸。
Wèi jīng de zhǔ yào chéng fèn jiù shì gǔ ān suān.
The main ingredient of MSG is glutamic acid.
谷氨酸。
Yī shēng jiàn yì tā duō chī hán gǔ ān suān fēng fù de shí wù.
The doctor advised him to eat more foods rich in glutamic acid.

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.

谷gǔglutamic

氨酸amino acid

联绵Bound pair

谷 gives the glutamic kind, and 氨酸 is the amino-acid substance named as one whole.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 谷 comes from a picture of a valley: an opening between two near-parallel lines for mountain walls.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

气安氨

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

安

Same sound today

氨 pairs 气 (gas) with 安, which gives the sound ān; the 气 part shows that it names a gas.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

酉夋酸

Meaning part形符xíngfú

酉酉yǒu

Sound part声符shēngfú

夋

夋qūn酸suān

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

酸 is built from 酉 and 夋, and 夋 gives the sound.