坑道 (kēng dào) — tunnel, gallery (in mining or military contexts)

Definition

noun

tunnelgallery (in mining or military contexts)

Measure word · 条

坑道。
Kuàng gōng men zhèng zài kēng dào lǐ kāi cǎi kuàng shí.
The miners are extracting ore in the tunnel.
坑道，。
Zhè tiáo kēng dào shì zhàn shí xiū jiàn de, yòng yú yùn shū wù zī.
This gallery was built during wartime for transporting supplies.
坑道。
Tā men huā le sān gè yuè cái wā tōng zhè tiáo kēng dào.
It took them three months to dig through this tunnel.

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.

坑 means pit or mine and 道 means passage; together they name an underground passage.

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.

亢土坑

Meaning part形符xíngfú

土土tǔsoil

Sound part声符shēngfú

亢

亢kàng坑kēng(r)

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The current form 坑 uses 土 (soil) for the meaning and 亢 for the sound.

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

行行xíngstreet

Sound part声符shēngfú

𩠐

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

Early 道 showed a street 行, a foot 止, and a part written 首 or 𩠐; the right part of 行 later disappeared.