冰窟 (bīng kū) — ice cave; hole in ice | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

ice cavehole in ice

Measure word · 个

Examples

冰窟。
Tàn xiǎn duì fā xiàn le yí gè jù dà de bīng kū.
The expedition discovered a huge ice cave.
，冰窟。
Xiǎo xīn, qián miàn yǒu yí gè bīng kū.
Careful, there's an ice hole ahead.
，冰窟。
Dōng tiān hú miàn jié bīng hòu, yǒu xiē dì fāng xíng chéng le bīng kū.
After the lake freezes in winter, ice holes form in some places.

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 窟 means cave, together giving an ice cave.

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.

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

穴屈窟

Meaning part形符xíngfú

穴穴xuéhole; cave

Sound part声符shēngfú

屈

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

窟 is built from 穴 (hole; cave) plus 屈, which supplies the sound. The shape therefore marks a cave-like hole pronounced like 屈.

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