豆芽 (dòu yá) — bean sprout | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

bean sprout

Measure word · 根

Examples

豆芽。
Wǒ xǐ huan chī dòu yá.
I like eating bean sprouts.
豆芽。
Zhè dào cài lǐ yǒu hěn duō dòu yá.
This dish has a lot of bean sprouts.
豆芽。
Chāo shì de dòu yá hěn xīn xiān.
The bean sprouts at the supermarket are very fresh.

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.

芽yásprout

豆 names beans and 芽 sprouts, so the word is bean sprout.

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.

艹牙芽

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎograss

Sound part声符shēngfú

牙

牙yá芽yá

Same sound today

芽 has 艹 (grass) on top and 牙 (yá) below, which gives the sound.

Appears in

Food (General)Vegetables

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