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酱油 (jiàng yóu) — soy sauce

Definition

酱油 is the liquid condiment 'soy sauce' — a thin salty sauce used in cooking and as a table dip. Unlike 酱 (thick fermented paste like soybean or broad-bean paste), 酱油 is always liquid.

noun
soy sauce

Examples

  • ，酱油。
    Chǎo qīng cài de shí hou, kě yǐ fàng yì diǎn jiàng yóu.
    When stir-frying greens, you can add a little soy sauce.
  • 酱油。
    Mā ma zài cài lǐ jiā le yì xiē jiàng yóu.
    Mom added some soy sauce to the dish.
  • 酱油。
    Zhè zhǒng jiàng yóu de wèi dào hěn hǎo.
    This kind of soy sauce tastes good.

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.

酱jiàngfermented paste
油yóuoil

酱 (fermented paste) and 油 (oil) combine to mean the liquid condiment from soy paste.

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 醬; 酱 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
酉酉yǒudrink
Sound part声符shēngfú
將
將jiāng醬jiàng
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 →

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
由
由yóu油yóu
Same sound today

油 is built from 氵, a water part, and 由, which supplies the sound.

Open 油 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 5

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