酸雨 (suān yǔ) — acid rain

Definition

noun
acid rain
Measure word · 场

Examples

  • 酸雨。
    suān yǔ Duì huán jìng yǒu hài.
    Acid rain is harmful to the environment.
  • 酸雨。
    Zhè ge dì qū jīng cháng xià suān yǔ.
    This area often experiences acid rain.
  • 酸雨。
    suān yǔ De wēi hài hěn dà.
    The harm of acid rain is great.

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suānacid
雨yǔrain

酸 means acid and 雨 means rain, so together they name acid rain.

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
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.

Open 酸 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape 雨 is an old picture of a cloud with rain drops falling from it; the top line was added later.

Open 雨 →

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