松林 (sōng lín) — pine forest

Definition

noun
pine forest
Measure word · 片

Examples

  • 松林。
    Zhè piàn sōng lín fēi cháng mào mì.
    This pine forest is very dense.
  • 松林。
    sōng lín Lǐ yǒu hěn duō xiǎo dòng wù.
    There are many small animals in the pine forest.
  • 松林。
    Wǒ men chuān guò sōng lín lái dào hú biān.
    We walked through the pine forest and arrived at the lakeside.

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.

松sōngpine
林línforest

松 refers to pine trees, and 林 to woods, giving a forest of pines.

Characters in this word

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
木木mùwood
Sound part声符shēngfú
公
公gōng松sōng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

松 uses 木 (wood) to show it is a tree, and 公 to give the sound.

Open 松 →

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

林 is made of two 木 (tree) placed side by side, showing many trees together, hence a forest.

Open 林 →

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