麻黄 (má huáng) — ephedra (a plant used in traditional Chinese medicine)

Definition

noun
ephedra (a plant used in traditional Chinese medicine)

Examples

  • 麻黄。
    má huáng Shì yì zhǒng cháng yòng de zhōng yào.
    Ephedra is a commonly used Chinese herb.
  • 麻黄。
    Yī shēng jiàn yì tā fú yòng má huáng lái huǎn jiě ké sou.
    The doctor recommended he take ephedra to relieve coughing.
  • 。
    Zhè zhǒng cǎo yào de zhǔ yào chéng fèn shì má huáng jiǎn.
    The main ingredient of this herb is ephedrine.

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.

麻máhemp-like
黄huángyellow

The plant is named for its yellowish, hemp-like stems: 麻 recalls hemp and 黄 marks the yellow color.

Characters in this word

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

麻 combines 厂 and 𣏟 to represent hemp leaves.

Open 麻 →

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 黃; 黄 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
田田tiánfield
Sound part声符shēngfú
炗
炗guāng黃huáng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 黃 pairs 田 (field) with 炗 (light), which gives the sound; the simplified 黄 is a shorthand and its parts are not historical components.

Open 黄 →

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