黏液 (nián yè) — mucus | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

mucus

Examples

黏液。
Gǎn mào shí bí zi huì fēn mì nián yè.
When you have a cold, your nose secretes mucus.
黏液。
Zhè zhǒng nián yè néng bǎo hù wèi bì.
This kind of mucus can protect the stomach lining.
黏液。
Tā ké sou shí tǔ chū le hěn duō nián yè.
When he coughed, he spat out a lot of mucus.

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.

液yèliquid

黏 describes the sticky quality of 液, yielding mucus.

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.

黍占黏

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

占

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.

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

氵夜液

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

夜

夜yè液yè

Same sound today

The left side 氵 is water, and the right side 夜 gives the sound; together they form 液, a liquid, like water.

Appears in

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