元 yuán
- Strokes
- 4
- Radical
- 儿 — son, child
- How it's built
- Pictograph — a drawing of the thing
元宵
yuánxiāo
sweet dumplings, Yuanxiao
Characters in this word
宵 xiāo
- Strokes
- 10
- Radical
- 宀 — roof
- Made of
- 宀 roof 肖 to resemble, to look like
- How it's built
- Phono-semantic — one part hints at the meaning, another at the sound
Example phrases
- 北方人在正月十五常吃元宵，象征团圆。 Běifāng rén zài zhēngyuè shíwǔ cháng chī yuánxiāo, xiàngzhēng tuányuán. People in northern China often eat yuanxiao on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, symbolising reunion.
- 妈妈煮了一锅热腾腾的元宵。 Māma zhǔ le yì guō rèténgténg de yuánxiāo. Mom cooked a pot of steaming hot yuanxiao.
- 元宵里面有黑芝麻馅儿，又香又甜。 Yuánxiāo lǐmiàn yǒu hēi zhīma xiànr, yòu xiāng yòu tián. The yuanxiao have black sesame filling inside, fragrant and sweet.
Related words
- 元 yuán yuan
- 单元 dānyuán unit; section
- 美元 měiyuán US dollar
- 公元 gōngyuán Common Era
- 元旦 Yuándàn New Year's Day
- 多元 duōyuán diverse, pluralistic
- 元素 yuánsù element
- 元老 yuánlǎo senior figure; elder statesman; veteran
- 元首 yuánshǒu head of state
- 状元 zhuàngyuan top candidate in the imperial examinations; top scorer
- 通宵 tōngxiāo all night; throughout the night
- 夜宵 yèxiāo late-night snack