酸菜 (suān cài) — pickled Chinese cabbage (a fermented vegetable…

Definition

noun

pickled Chinese cabbage (a fermented vegetable dish)

酸菜。
Dōng běi rén dōng tiān cháng cháng chī suān cài.
People in Northeast China often eat pickled cabbage in winter.
酸菜。
Mā ma yòng suān cài zuò le yí dào cài.
Mom made a dish with pickled cabbage.
酸菜。
Chāo shì lǐ yǒu hěn duō zhǒng suān cài.
There are many kinds of pickled cabbage in the supermarket.

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.

菜càivegetable

酸 is sour, and 菜 is vegetable, giving pickled sour vegetables.

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.

艹采菜

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant

Sound part声符shēngfú

采

Same sound today

菜 has 艹 (grass/plants) on top and 采 below; the top part shows it is a plant, while 采 gives the sound.