蝶 dié butterfly
怎么记住“蝶”: 虫 insect + 枼 leaves = butterfly. The girl finds a tiny insect resting on the leaves of the lemon tree and waits for weeks until it becomes a butterfly.
部件结构
形声 · Meaning + sound
One part gives the meaning, the other gives the sound.
蝶 = 虫 insect + 枼 leaves
- 虫 insect meaning
- 枼 leaves sound
The girl finds a tiny insect resting on the leaves of the lemon tree and waits for weeks until it becomes a butterfly.
How it came to be
The insect gives the meaning and the leaves the sound.
用法
- 蝶, like its partner 蝴, only ever appears in 蝴蝶 húdié, 'butterfly'. You can't use either character alone to mean 'butterfly.'
- You'll see 蝶 reused in a few compound coinages (蝶泳 diéyǒng, the butterfly swimming stroke) but the core, everyday word is always the pair 蝴蝶.