冰川 (bīng chuān) — glacier | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

glacier

Measure word · 座

Examples

冰川。
bīng chuān Shì dì qiú shàng zhòng yào de dàn shuǐ zī yuán.
Glaciers are an important source of freshwater on Earth.
，冰川。
Yóu yú quán qiú biàn nuǎn, xǔ duō bīng chuān zhèng zài kuài sù róng huà.
Due to global warming, many glaciers are melting rapidly.
冰川。
Wǒ men qù xī zàng de shí hou kàn dào le zhuàng guān de bīng chuān.
When we went to Tibet, we saw magnificent glaciers.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

冰 means ice and 川 means river, together giving a river of ice.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

冫水冰

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

冫

仌bīng冰bīng

Same sound today

冰 adds 水 (water) to 冫, the short form of 仌; 冫 gives the sound, and 水 shows the meaning.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

川 is drawn to look like flowing water.

Appears in

Geography & Landforms

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