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开采 (kāi cǎi) — to extract (natural resources); to mine; to exploit

Definition

开采 (kāicǎi) is the technical verb for extracting natural resources from the earth — oil, coal, rare earths. Pairs with what is taken (开采石油), while 开发 covers developing resources, 利用 is general 'use', and 剥削 is exploiting people.

verb
to extract (natural resources)to mineto exploit

Examples

  • 开采。
    Tā men zài hǎi wài dà liàng kāi cǎi shí yóu.
    They are extracting large amounts of oil overseas.
  • 开采。
    Cháng qī kāi cǎi dǎo zhì zī yuán kū jié.
    Long-term exploitation leads to resource depletion.
  • 开采。
    Zhèng fǔ jìn zhǐ fēi fǎ kāi cǎi xī tǔ.
    The government bans illegal mining of rare earths.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

开kāiopen
采cǎigather

开 means to open or dig, and 采 means to gather, so together they express extracting resources from the earth.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 開; 开 is its simplified writing.

  • 門門méndoor
  • 一一yīlatch and/or wooden pole that shuts a door
  • 廾廾gǒnga pair of hands

The traditional form 開 shows 廾, a pair of hands, and 一, a latch or pole, inside 門, a door: hands opening a latched door. The simplified 开 is a shorthand form, so its parts are not the original pieces.

Open 开 →

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 採; 采 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 采 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (采访, 采购) it is 採; in others it is 采.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
扌Written in full as手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
采
采cǎi採cǎi
Same sound today

The traditional form 採 combines 扌 (hand) with 采, which gives the sound and means to pick.

Open 采 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Industry & Manufacturing

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