() — (bound form) rugged, rough (of terrain; appears in 崎岖)

Definition

崎 (qí) is a bound morph — it has no standalone meaning and only appears inside the set word 崎岖 ('rugged, rough terrain'). The dictionary glosses 'slanted' or 'difficult' are misleading; treat 崎岖 as the unit.

bound form
ruggedrough (of terrain; appears in 崎岖)

Examples

  • Zhè tiáo lù hěn qí qū, kāi chē yào xiǎo xīn.
    This road is very rugged; be careful driving.
  • Wǒ men fān guò le yí zuò qí qū de shān.
    We crossed a rugged mountain.
  • Qián miàn de dào lù suī rán qí qū, dàn wǒ men yí dìng huì zǒu dào zhōng diǎn.
    Although the road ahead is rough, we will definitely reach the endpoint.

Origin

Sound + meaning
六书liùshū
形声xíngshēng

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
shānmountain
Sound part声符shēngfú
Same sound today

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

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