餐馆 (cān guǎn) — restaurant | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

restaurant

Measure word · 家

餐馆。
Zhè jiā cān guǎn de cài wèi dào bú cuò.
The food at this restaurant tastes pretty good.
餐馆。
Tā měi tiān xià bān hòu dōu qù yì jiā cān guǎn chī wǎn fàn.
He goes to a restaurant for dinner every day after work.
餐馆，。
Zhè jiā cān guǎn de zhuāng xiū hěn yǒu tè sè, xī yǐn le hěn duō rén.
The decoration of this restaurant is very distinctive and attracts many people.

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.

馆guǎnestablishment

餐 means a meal and 馆 means an establishment, together naming a place for meals.

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.”

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 館; 馆 is its simplified writing.

飠官館

Meaning part形符xíngfú

飠Written in full as食shí

Sound part声符shēngfú

官

Same sound today

The traditional form 館 is made of 食, written as 飠 on the left, and 官 on the right; 官 provides the sound. The simplified 馆 is a later shorthand.

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