软饮料 (ruǎn yǐn liào) — soft drink, non-alcoholic beverage | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

soft drinknon-alcoholic beverage

Measure word · 杯

Examples

软饮料？
Nǐ xǐ huan hē ruǎn yǐn liào ma?
Do you like soft drinks?
软饮料。
Zhè jiā chāo shì yǒu hěn duō zhǒng ruǎn yǐn liào.
This supermarket has many kinds of soft drinks.
软饮料，。
Tā měi tiān dōu hē ruǎn yǐn liào, duì shēn tǐ bù hǎo.
He drinks soft drinks every day, which is bad for his health.

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.

饮料beverage

饮yǐndrink料liàomaterial

偏正Modifier + head

软 means soft and 饮料 means a drink, so the word names a soft drink.

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 軟; 软 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

車車jūcarriage

Sound part声符shēngfú

耎

耎ruǎn軟ruǎn

Same sound today

The traditional form 軟 pairs 車 (carriage) with 耎 as a sound part; 耎 depicted a man under rain, and simplified 软 uses a later right side instead of 耎.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 飲; 饮 is its simplified writing.

酉酉yǒubottle (of alcoholic beverages)
人人rénperson
口口kǒumouth (occasionally with the tongue protruding)

The traditional form 飲 drew a person bending over a bottle to drink, with a mouth and droplets; this picture is about 飲, not the simplified 饮.

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

米斗料

米米mǐrice
斗斗dòudipper

料 combines 米 (rice) with 斗 (a dipper), showing rice being measured or gauged.

Appears in

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