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水灾 (shuǐ zāi) — flood, inundation

Definition

noun
floodinundation
Measure word · 场

Examples

  • 水灾。
    Qù nián zhè lǐ fā shēng le yán zhòng de shuǐ zāi.
    A severe flood occurred here last year.
  • 水灾，。
    shuǐ zāi Guò hòu, zhèng fǔ bāng zhù rén men chóng jiàn jiā yuán.
    After the flood, the government helped people rebuild their homes.
  • 水灾。
    Yù fáng shuǐ zāi xū yào jiā qiáng shuǐ lì shè shī.
    Preventing floods requires strengthening water conservancy facilities.

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.

水shuǐwater
灾zāidisaster

The character for water specifies the kind of disaster, one caused by excessive water.

Characters in this word

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

水 is a simple drawing of water flowing.

Open 水 →

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 災; 灾 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
火火huǒfire
Sound part声符shēngfú
𡿧
𡿧𡿧災zāi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 災 combines 火 (fire) with 𡿧, an old picture of flowing water that supplied the sound; the simplified 灾 is a shorthand and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 灾 →
Appears in
Weather

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