城墙 (chéng qiáng) — city wall | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

城墙 is a defensive wall surrounding an old city, not a room's wall — 墙/墙壁 is the general word for 'wall', and 围墙 is a lighter enclosure around a property.

noun

city wall

Measure word · 座

Examples

城墙，。
Zhè zuò chéng qiáng jiàn yú míng cháo, zhì jīn bǎo cún wán hǎo.
This city wall was built in the Ming dynasty and is still well preserved.
城墙。
Zhàn zài chéng qiáng shàng kě yǐ fǔ kàn zhěng gè gǔ chéng.
Standing on the city wall, you can overlook the entire ancient city.
城墙。
Hěn duō yóu kè xǐ huan zài chéng qiáng shàng qí zì xíng chē.
Many tourists like to ride bicycles on the city wall.

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.

城墙 joins 城, city, and 墙, wall, to mean a city wall.

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.

土成城

Meaning part形符xíngfú

土土tǔsoil

Sound part声符shēngfú

成

成chéng城chéng

Same sound today

城 pairs 土 (soil) with 成 as a sound part, because city walls were originally made of stamped earth.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 牆; 墙 is its simplified writing.

爿嗇牆

Meaning part形符xíngfú

嗇嗇sèwheat in a granary

Sound part声符shēngfú

爿

爿pán牆qiáng

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

In the traditional form 牆, 爿 gives the sound and 嗇, showing wheat in a granary, gives the wall meaning. The simplified 墙 is a later short form.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Buildings & Structures

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.