月岩 (yuè yán) — lunar rock; moon rock

Definition

noun
lunar rockmoon rock
Measure word · 块

Examples

  • 月岩。
    Zhè kuài yuè yán shì cóng yuè qiú biǎo miàn cǎi jí de.
    This piece of lunar rock was collected from the moon's surface.
  • 月岩。
    Kē xué jiā tōng guò yán jiū yuè yán kě yǐ liǎo jiě yuè qiú de xíng chéng lì shǐ.
    Scientists can understand the history of the moon's formation by studying lunar rocks.
  • 月岩。
    Bó wù guǎn lǐ zhǎn chū le jǐ kuài zhēn guì de yuè yán.
    The museum is displaying several precious lunar rocks.

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.

月yuèmoon
岩yánrock

月 means moon and 岩 means rock, so they name rock from the moon.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

月 was drawn as a crescent moon, with the curved outline showing the moon’s shape.

Open 月 →

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 巖; 岩 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
山山shānmountain
Sound part声符shēngfú
嚴
嚴yán巖yán
Same sound today

The traditional form 巖 combines 山 (mountain) with 嚴, a part that gives the sound; the simplified 岩 is a later shorthand, and its parts are not the original parts.

Open 岩 →

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