河坝 (hé bà) — river dam | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

river dam

Measure word · 座

Examples

河坝。
Tā men zhèng zài xiū jiàn yí zuò xīn de hé bà.
They are building a new river dam.
河坝。
Zhè chǎng hóng shuǐ chà diǎn chōng huǐ le hé bà.
This flood almost destroyed the river dam.
河坝。
hé bà Qǐ dào le xù shuǐ guàn gài de zuò yòng.
The river dam serves the function of storing water and irrigation.

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.

河 is river and 坝 is dam, so the term names a dam across a river.

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

水水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

何

何hé河hé

Same sound today

河 pairs 水 (water) with 何, which gives the sound. The 水 part marks it as a word for a river.

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 壩; 坝 is its simplified writing.

土霸壩

Meaning part形符xíngfú

土土tǔearth

Sound part声符shēngfú

霸

霸bà壩bà

Same sound today

The traditional form 壩 has 土, earth, and 霸 as its sound; the simplified 坝 is a shorthand, and its right side is not the historical component.

Appears in

Buildings & Structures

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