monomorphemic word; simple word
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 4 examplesnoun
monomorphemic word; a word containing only one morpheme
formalA term in Chinese linguistics. It can be a single character (e.g., 马, 跑) or multiple characters that together form a single, indivisible morpheme (e.g., 葡萄, 徘徊). Foreign loanwords (e.g., 法西斯, 罗曼蒂克) are also considered 单纯词 because they represent a single morpheme borrowed as a whole unit.
Zài在
hàn汉
yǔ语
lǐ里
，
“
mǎ马
”
shì是
yī一
gè个
dān单
chún纯
cí词
。
In Chinese, '马' is a monomorphemic word.
“
qiǎo巧
kè克
lì力
”
shì是
cóng从
wài外
yǔ语
jiè借
lái来
de的
dān单
chún纯
cí词
。
'巧克力' is a monomorphemic word borrowed from a foreign language.
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Lǎo老
shī师
jiǎng讲
jiě解
le了
dān单
chún纯
cí词
hé和
hé合
chéng成
cí词
de的
qū区
bié别
。
The teacher explained the difference between monomorphemic and compound words.
Shuāng双
yīn音
jié节
dān单
chún纯
cí词
，
rú如
“
pí琵
pa琶
”
，
bù不
néng能
chāi拆
kāi开
lǐ理
jiě解
。
Disyllabic monomorphemic words, like '琵琶', cannot be understood by separating their characters.