崎岖 (qí qū) — rugged, rough (of terrain)

Definition

Describes physically uneven terrain (roads, coastlines, mountains). Unlike 坎坷, it stays literal — for life's hardships use 坎坷 instead.

adjective

ruggedrough (of terrain)

崎岖，。
Zhè tiáo shān lù hěn qí qū, wǒ men zǒu màn yì diǎn.
This mountain path is rugged; let's walk a bit slower.
，。
Chuān guò nà piàn qí qū de huāng dì hòu, wǒ men zhōng yú dào le cūn zi.
After crossing that rugged wasteland, we finally arrived at the village.
崎岖，。
Zhè lǐ de hǎi àn xiàn fēi cháng qí qū, hěn duō yóu kè xǐ huan lái zhè lǐ pāi zhào.
The coastline here is very rugged; many tourists like to come and take photos.

Single-morpheme word

构词法gòucífǎ

联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

岖qū

The characters carry no meaning of their own here; together they describe rough, uneven ground.

Sound-only characters

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

山奇崎

Meaning part形符xíngfú

山山shānmountain

Sound part声符shēngfú

奇

Same sound today

崎 has a mountain part 山 on the left and 奇 on the right, which gives the sound qí.

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 嶇; 岖 is its simplified writing.

山區嶇

Meaning part形符xíngfú

山山shānmountain

Sound part声符shēngfú

區

區qū嶇

Same sound today

The traditional form 嶇 pairs 山 (mountain) with 區 as a sound part; the simplified 岖 is a later abbreviation.

Appears in