山脊 (shān jǐ) — mountain ridge | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

mountain ridge

Measure word · 条

Examples

山脊。
Cóng shān dǐng kě yǐ qīng chǔ dì kàn dào shān jǐ.
From the mountaintop you can clearly see the mountain ridge.
山脊。
Tā men yán zhe shān jǐ zǒu le liǎng gè duō xiǎo shí.
They walked along the mountain ridge for over two hours.
山脊，。
Zhè zuò shān de shān jǐ hěn wēi xiǎn, bú shì hé tú bù lǚ xíng.
This mountain's ridge is very dangerous, not suitable for hiking.

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.

山shānmountain

The 山 'mountain' sense combines with 脊 'ridge' to name a mountain ridge.

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.

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

肉肉ròuflesh

Sound part声符shēngfú

朿

朿cì脊jǐ

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The original drawing of 脊 showed a fish spine; later 肉 (flesh) was added to point to the meaning, while the upper 朿 part supplied the sound.

Appears in

Geography & Landforms

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