酸 (suān) — sour, tart; sore, aching; sick at heart, grieved

Definition

Polysemous adjective: literally 'sour' (taste), and figuratively 'aching' (muscles) or 'sick at heart' (a pang of sadness, lighter than 伤心).

adjective

sourtartsoreachingsick at heartgrieved

酸。
Zhè ge píng guǒ hěn suān.
This apple is very sour.
，酸。
Zǒu le hěn jiǔ, tuǐ dōu zǒu suān le.
After walking a long time, my legs became sore.
，酸。
Tīng dào zhè ge xiāo xi, tā xīn lǐ yì suān.
Hearing the news, he felt a pang of sadness.

Sound + meaning

六书liùshū

形声xíngshēng

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

酉夋酸

Meaning part形符xíngfú

酉酉yǒu

Sound part声符shēngfú

夋

夋qūn酸suān

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

酸 is built from 酉 and 夋, and 夋 gives the sound.

Appears in