餐桌 (cān zhuō) — dining table | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

dining table

Measure word · 张

餐桌。
Wǒ men jiā yǒu yì zhāng dà de cān zhuō.
Our family has a large dining table.
餐桌。
Quán jiā rén zuò zài cān zhuō páng biān chī fàn.
The whole family sits by the dining table to eat.
筷餐桌。
Qǐng bǎ wǎn kuài fàng zài cān zhuō shàng.
Please put the bowls and chopsticks on the dining table.

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.

餐 refers to meals and 桌 to a table, meaning a table used for dining.

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.

𣦼食餐

Meaning part形符xíngfú

食食shíto eat; meal; food

Sound part声符shēngfú

𣦼

𣦼𣦼餐cān

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

餐 combines 食, meaning food or eating, with 𣦼 as the sound part; it originally meant “to swallow.”

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

桌 has 卓 on top, giving the sound and a sense of high, and 木 below, wood; the bottom of 卓 has merged into 木.

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