About
The character "籽" is a phono-semantic compound, with its structural composition clearly indicating its core meaning related to seeds. Its semantic component, "米" (mǐ, meaning "rice" or "grain"), classifies it within the domain of cultivated plants and foodstuffs, while the phonetic component "子" (zǐ, meaning "child" or "seed") provides a sound cue and reinforces the conceptual link to something small and generative. This construction reflects a later, more specialized development in the language, as the more ancient and general term for "seed" was "子" itself. Over time, "籽" emerged to specify and clarify the meaning, taking on the dedicated sense of the seed of a cultivated plant, thereby allowing "子" to retain its broader meanings of offspring, small object, or honorific. This semantic division of labor demonstrates a process where a new character was created to bear a more precise agricultural meaning, derived logically from its existing phonetic and semantic parts.
Example Sentences Hide
这些是西瓜籽。
农民播种种子。
苹果籽不能吃。
籽油很健康。
向日葵籽可以榨油。
这些籽粒饱满又金黄。
播种前，要挑选好的籽。
这种植物的籽具有很高的营养价值。