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洞穴 (dòng xué) — cave, cavern

Definition

洞穴 is a formal word for a natural underground cave or cavern. Compared with the everyday 洞, it emphasizes a larger, more geologically formed space; 巢穴 is for animal lairs or criminal hideouts, not geological caves.

noun
cavecavern
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 洞穴。
    Tàn xiǎn jiā men zǒu jìn le zhè ge shén mì de dòng xué.
    The explorers walked into this mysterious cave.
  • 洞穴，。
    dòng xué Lǐ miàn fēi cháng cháo shī, ér qiě hěn hēi.
    Inside the cave it's very damp and also very dark.
  • 洞穴。
    Zhè ge dòng xué shì jǐ bǎi wàn nián qián xíng chéng de.
    This cave was formed millions of years ago.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

洞dònghole
穴xuéden

洞 and 穴 both name openings in rock or earth, so the combined form means a cave or cavern.

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
同
同tóng洞dòng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

洞 combines 水 (water) with 同, which gives the sound tóng.

Open 洞 →

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

穴 possibly comes from a picture of a cave entrance or a door flap, matching meanings such as cave and hole.

Open 穴 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Geography & Landforms

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