沉积物 (chén jī wù) — sediment

Definition

noun
sediment

Examples

  • 沉积物。
    Hé dǐ de chén jī wù zhōng hán yǒu dà liàng kuàng wù zhì.
    The sediment at the bottom of the river contains a lot of minerals.
  • 沉积物。
    Kē xué jiā cóng chén jī wù zhōng fā xiàn le gǔ dài shēng wù de hén jì.
    Scientists discovered traces of ancient organisms in the sediment.
  • 沉积物。
    Zhè xiē chén jī wù shì jīng guò shù qiān nián chén jī xíng chéng de.
    This sediment formed through thousands of years of deposition.

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.

沉积
沉chénsink积jīaccumulate
联合Side by side
物wùthing

沉积 means sink and accumulate, and 物 means thing, giving deposited material.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 沉 →

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 積; 积 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
禾禾hé
Sound part声符shēngfú
責
責zé積jī
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 積 pairs 禾 (grain) with 責, which gives the sound; the simplified 积 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the historical parts.

Open 积 →

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
牛牛niú
Sound part声符shēngfú
勿
勿wù物wù
Same sound today

物 puts 牛 beside 勿: 牛 gives the meaning, and 勿 gives the sound.

Open 物 →

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