About
The character "玛", a simplified form of the traditional "瑪", is a semantic-phonetic compound whose history is primarily tied to its use in transcribing foreign words rather than native Chinese concepts. Its structure combines the "玉" (jade) radical, which categorically associates it with precious stones, and the component "马" (horse), which serves as a phonetic indicator suggesting a pronunciation similar to "mǎ". This construction points to its original purpose of representing the sound of the word for "agate", a type of quartz, with the stone radical appropriately signifying its material nature. Over time, while retaining this core meaning in compound words like "玛瑙" (mǎnǎo, agate), the character itself has seen its independent utility diminish, becoming almost exclusively bound in that specific term. Its modern usage is largely confined to serving as a phonetic component in personal names or in transliterations, where its connection to the semantic field of precious stones is often functionally irrelevant, highlighting a shift from a meaning-driven to a sound-driven application in the language.
Example Sentences Hide
玛丽是我的朋友。
这个玛瑙很漂亮。
玛丽的哥哥来了。
我喜欢玛瑙的颜色。
玛丽每天学习中文。
这块玛瑙是从巴西来的。
玛丽和她的朋友一起去公园。
那个商店里卖各种颜色的玛瑙。