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土壤 (tǔ rǎng) — soil

Definition

土壤 (tǔrǎng) is the technical/formal term for 'soil' — used in agriculture, environmental, and scientific contexts (e.g., 保护土壤). 土 and 泥土 are everyday words, and 土地 leans toward 'land/territory'.

noun
soil

Examples

  • 土壤。
    Zhè piàn tǔ rǎng fēi cháng shì hé zhǒng xiǎo mài.
    This patch of soil is very suitable for growing wheat.
  • 土壤。
    Bǎo hù tǔ rǎng bú bèi wū rǎn shì wǒ men de zé rèn.
    Protecting the soil from pollution is our responsibility.
  • 土壤。
    Huā yuán lǐ de tǔ rǎng xū yào jīng cháng sōng yi sōng.
    The soil in the garden needs to be loosened regularly.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

土tǔsoil
壤rǎngsoil

Both 土 and 壤 refer to earth or soil, so together they name the ground material.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 土 →

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, dirt
Sound part声符shēngfú
襄
襄xiāng壤rǎng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left side 土 is earth or dirt, showing the meaning; the right side 襄 gives the sound.

Open 壤 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 6Environment & Ecology

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