豆奶 (dòu nǎi) — soy milk; soybean milk | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

soy milksoybean milk

Measure word · 杯

Examples

豆奶。
Wǒ měi tiān zǎo shàng hē yì bēi dòu nǎi.
I drink a glass of soy milk every morning.
豆奶。
Zhè jiā chāo shì de dòu nǎi hěn xīn xiān.
The soy milk at this supermarket is very fresh.
豆奶，。
Wǒ xǐ huan hē dòu nǎi, bù xǐ huan niú nǎi.
I like to drink soy milk, not cow's milk.

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.

豆 means bean and 奶 means milk; together they name milk made from beans.

Characters in this word

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

豆 originally drew some kind of container. It was borrowed for its sound to write the plant name, so the picture and the meaning are unrelated.

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

女乃奶

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

乃

乃nǎi奶nǎi

Same sound today

奶 combines 女, a woman, and 乃, which gives the sound.

Appears in

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