黏土 (nián tǔ) — clay

Definition

noun
clay
Measure word · 块
Easily confused

Examples

  • 黏土。
    Zhè zhǒng nián tǔ kě yǐ yòng lái zuò táo qì.
    This kind of clay can be used to make pottery.
  • 黏土。
    Xiǎo hái zi xǐ huan wán nián tǔ.
    Children like to play with clay.
  • 黏土。
    Yì shù jiā yòng nián tǔ niē le yí gè rén xiàng.
    The artist used clay to sculpt a human figure.

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.

黏niánsticky
土tǔearth

黏 gives sticky, 土 gives earth; together they describe the sticky earth used as clay.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
黍黍shǔ
Sound part声符shēngfú
占
占zhàn黏
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

黏 is built from 黍, which carries the sense, and 占, which gives the sound.

Open 黏 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 土 →

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