黑麦 (hēi mài) — rye | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

rye

Measure word · 种

黑麦。
Wǒ zǎo cān xǐ huan chī hēi mài miàn bāo.
I like to eat rye bread for breakfast.
黑麦。
Zhè zhǒng hēi mài shì zài běi fāng zhòng zhí de.
This kind of rye is grown in the north.
黑麦。
hēi mài Hán yǒu fēng fù de xiān wéi.
Rye is rich in fiber.

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.

黑 (“black”) + 麦 (“grain”) names rye, a dark grain.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 黑 seems to come from drawing a head marked with dots, usually read as facial tattoos.

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.

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