食盐 (shí yán) — table salt | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

table salt

Easily confused

食盐。
Qǐng jiā yì diǎn shí yán.
Please add a little salt.
食盐。
Yī shēng jiàn yì wǒ shǎo chī shí yán.
The doctor advised me to eat less salt.
食盐。
Zhè zhǒng shí yán lái zì dà hǎi.
This kind of salt comes from the sea.

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.

食shíeat/food

食 (eat/food) says the 盐 (salt) is for eating.

Characters in this word

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

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 鹽; 盐 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

鹵鹵lǔsalt

Sound part声符shēngfú

監

監jiān鹽yán

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

The traditional form 鹽 uses 鹵 to show salt and 監 for the sound; the simplified 盐 is a later shorthand.