辣椒酱 (là jiāo jiàng) — chili sauce, chili paste (a spicy sauce commonly used in Chinese cuisine)

Definition

noun
chili saucechili paste (a spicy sauce commonly used in Chinese cuisine)
Measure word ·

Examples

  • 辣椒酱
    Wǒ xiǎng mǎi yì píng là jiāo jiàng.
    I want to buy a bottle of chili sauce.
  • 辣椒酱
    Tā zuò miàn tiáo de shí hou fàng le hěn duō là jiāo jiàng.
    He put a lot of chili sauce in his noodles.
  • 辣椒酱
    Zhè zhǒng là jiāo jiàng bú tài là, hěn hǎo chī.
    This kind of chili sauce is not too spicy; it's very tasty.

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.

辣椒chili
spicyjiāopepper
偏正Modifier + head

辣 (spicy) and 椒 (pepper) mean chili, and 酱 (sauce) makes it a chili sauce.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
Sound part声符shēngfú
Same sound today

辣 is built from 辛, which carries the meaning, and 束, written in full as 剌, which carries the sound.

Open 辣 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 椒 →

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 醬; 酱 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
yǒudrink
Sound part声符shēngfú
jiāngjiàng
Same sound today

The traditional form 醬 pairs 將, which suggests the sound, with 酉, a drink; the simplified 酱 is a later abbreviation.

Open 酱 →

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