藤 (téng): rattan

Measure Word

一根藤 gēn

Meanings

1 rattan
2 cane
3 vine

Characters

藤

téng

rattan; vine

Examples

院子里的藤爬满了墙。

Yuànzi lǐ de téng pá mǎn le qiáng.

The vines in the yard have climbed all over the wall.

这把椅子是用藤编的。

Zhè bǎ yǐzi shì yòng téng biān de.

This chair is woven from rattan.

Components

radical

艹 cǎo

grass; plant (top radical)

Top grass radical — the indexing component. It marks 藤 as a plant, specifically a climbing or trailing vine. Same radical heads botanical kin: 花 flower, 草 grass, 茶 tea, 葡萄 grape. Vines and creepers like 藤 are almost always under 艹 in the dictionary.

phonetic

滕 téng

to gush forth; surname Teng (here phonetic)

Bottom 滕 supplies the sound — same téng, same tone. It is itself a phono-semantic compound (water + 朕) and was originally a state name. Here it carries no live meaning, just the reading. Same sound family includes 腾 to soar, 誊 to transcribe — all riding the same phonetic spine.