藤 (téng): rattan

Measure Word

一根藤 gēn

Meanings

1 rattan
2 cane
3 vine

Characters

藤

téng

rattan; vine

Examples

HSK 2

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.

HSK 4

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

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.