酸奶 (suān nǎi) — yogurt | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Yogurt, made from fermented 牛奶 (milk). Use 一杯 or 一盒 to count it as a drink or cup.

noun

yogurt

Measure word · 杯

Examples

酸奶。
Wǒ zǎo shàng xǐ huan hē yì bēi suān nǎi.
I like to drink a cup of yogurt in the morning.
酸奶。
Zhè zhǒng suān nǎi de wèi dào hěn hǎo.
This kind of yogurt tastes great.
酸奶。
Tā zài chāo shì mǎi le sān hé suān nǎi.
He bought three boxes of yogurt at the supermarket.

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.

酸 (sour) and 奶 (milk) combine to mean sour milk, i.e. yogurt.

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.

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.

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

女乃奶

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

乃

乃nǎi奶nǎi

Same sound today

奶 combines 女, a woman, and 乃, which gives the sound.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 4 Food (General)

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