园地 (yuán dì) — garden plot, cultivated land; field, realm, scope (of activity, especially intellectual or creative); special section or column in a periodical

Definition

Literally 'garden plot', 园地 also means a dedicated section or column in a periodical (e.g. 文艺园地). The first sense is the literal cultivated plot; the others are figurative — a field, realm, or reserved space for an activity.

noun
garden plotcultivated landfieldrealmscope (of activity, especially intellectual or creative)special section or column in a periodical
Easily confused

Examples

  • 园地。
    Zhè ge yuán dì zhǒng le hěn duō shū cài hé shuǐ guǒ.
    This garden plot has many vegetables and fruits planted in it.
  • 园地，。
    Xué xiào yǒu yí gè xué xí yuán dì, xué shēng kě yǐ zhǎn shì zì jǐ de zuò pǐn.
    The school has a learning corner where students can display their own work.
  • 园地。
    Zhè běn zá zhì de wén yì yuán dì hěn shòu huān yíng.
    The literary section of this magazine is very popular.

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.

园yuángarden
地dìland

'园' (garden) and '地' (land) combine to mean a cultivated area or a field of activity.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
囗囗wéi
Sound part声符shēngfú
元
元yuán园yuán
Same sound today

In 园, 元 sits inside 囗, and 元 gives the sound.

Open 园 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
土土tǔearth
Sound part声符shēngfú
也
也yě地dì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

地 is built from 土 (earth) and 也, which gives its sound.

Open 地 →

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