山颠 (shān diān) — mountain peak, summit (literary)

Definition

Literary term for a mountain summit; synonymous with 山顶 but more formal and poetic, almost never used in everyday speech.

noun
mountain peaksummit (literary)
Measure word · 座
Easily confused

Examples

  • 山颠，。
    Zhàn zài shān diān shàng, yún hǎi jìn shōu yǎn dǐ.
    Standing on the mountain peak, the sea of clouds is fully visible.
  • 山颠，。
    Shī rén dēng shàng shān diān, yín sòng le yì shǒu shī.
    The poet climbed to the mountain peak and recited a poem.
  • 山颠。
    Zhè zuò shān de shān diān cháng nián jī xuě.
    The peak of this mountain is covered with snow year-round.

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
颠diāntop

山 names the mountain and 颠 its highest point.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 顛; 颠 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yèhead
Sound part声符shēngfú
真
真zhēn顛diān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 顛 combines 頁, a head, with 真 as a sound clue; the simplified 颠 is a later shorthand, and its parts are not the historical pieces.

Open 颠 →

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