山地 (shān dì) — mountainous region, hilly area; hillside field, sloping farmland

Definition

noun
mountainous regionhilly areahillside fieldsloping farmland
Measure word ·

Examples

  • 山地
    Wǒ qù nián qù guò yí gè shān dì dì qū, fēng jǐng fēi cháng měi lì.
    I went to a mountainous area last year, and the scenery was very beautiful.
  • 山地
    Nóng mín zài shān dì shàng zhǒng le hěn duō chá shù.
    Farmers planted many tea trees on the hillside fields.
  • 山地
    Zhè tiáo shān dì dào lù hěn wēi xiǎn, kāi chē yào xiǎo xīn.
    This mountain road is very dangerous; drive carefully.

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.

shānmountain
land

山 means mountain and 地 means land, giving a sense of mountainous land.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

山 shows three mountain peaks side by side.

Open 山 →

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
earth
Sound part声符shēngfú
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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