沟 (gōu) — ditch, gutter (man-made drainage channel); gully, ravine (natural eroded channel)
Definition
沟 is a narrow channel — either man-made (ditch, gutter) or naturally eroded (gully). 渠道 stresses an irrigation canal or a figurative 'channel/means', while 山谷/峡谷 is a larger natural valley or canyon.
noun
ditchgutter (man-made drainage channel)gullyravine (natural eroded channel)
Measure word · 道
Examples
- 沟。Nóng mín zài tián biān wā le yí dào gōu yòng lái pái shuǐ.The farmer dug a ditch beside the field to drain water.
- ，沟。Bào yǔ guò hòu, shān lǐ chōng chū le yí dào shēn shēn de gōu.After the heavy rain, a deep gully was carved out in the mountains.
- 沟，。Zhè tiáo gōu hěn cháng, yì zhí tōng dào hé biān.This ditch is very long and goes all the way to the river.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost 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 溝; 沟 is its simplified writing.
Sound part声符shēngfú
冓
冓gòu溝gōu
Same sound today
The traditional form 溝 pairs 氵 (water) with 冓 for the sound; the simplified 沟 is a later shorthand, so its right side is not the historical part.
Appears in
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