食堂 (shí táng) — dining hall; cafeteria | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A dining hall, typically inside a workplace, school, or institution (see 我们每天在食堂吃饭). It is more institutional than 餐厅, which is a public restaurant.

noun

dining hallcafeteria

Measure word · 个, 间

Examples

食堂。
Wǒ men měi tiān zài shí táng chī fàn.
We eat in the cafeteria every day.
食堂。
Zhè ge shí táng de cài hěn pián yi.
The food in this cafeteria is cheap.
食堂。
Tā hé péng you zài shí táng jiàn miàn.
He meets his friend in the cafeteria.

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.

The sense of 食 as eating and 堂 as hall combine to mean a dining hall.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

亼亼jímouth
皀皀jía bowl of rice on a stand

The form behind 食 shows 亼, a mouth, together with 皀, a bowl of rice on a stand. In modern 食, the bowl part has changed shape.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

尚

尚shàng堂táng

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

堂 uses 土 as a ground/earth part and 尚 for sound.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 4 Dining & Restaurants Rooms & Spaces

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