麦芽 (mài yá) — malt | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

malt

Examples

麦芽。
Pí jiǔ de zhǔ yào yuán liào shì mài yá.
The main ingredient of beer is malt.
麦芽，。
Zhè zhǒng bǐng gān shì yòng mài yá zuò de, wèi dào hěn xiāng.
This kind of cookie is made with malt, and it's very fragrant.
麦芽，。
Tā xǐ huan hē mài yá chá, jué de duì shēn tǐ hǎo.
He likes to drink malt tea and thinks it's good for his health.

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.

芽yásprout

The grain 麦, barley, specifies the kind of 芽, sprout.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 麥; 麦 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

夊夊suīfootprint pointing down; to walk slowly

Sound part声符shēngfú

來

來lái麥mài

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

For 麦, the traditional form 麥 pairs 來, which gives the sound and once meant wheat, with 夊, a footprint pointing down for slow walking.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

艹牙芽

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎograss

Sound part声符shēngfú

牙

牙yá芽yá

Same sound today

芽 has 艹 (grass) on top and 牙 (yá) below, which gives the sound.

Appears in

Grains & Staples

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