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浅水 (qiǎn shuǐ) — shallow water, shoal water

Definition

noun
shallow watershoal water

Examples

  • 浅水。
    qiǎn shuǐ Lǐ yǒu hěn duō xiǎo yú.
    There are many small fish in the shallow water.
  • 浅水。
    Hái zi men zhǐ néng zài qiǎn shuǐ lǐ wán.
    Children can only play in the shallow water.
  • 浅水。
    Dà chuán bù néng zài qiǎn shuǐ lǐ kāi.
    Large boats cannot drive in shallow water.

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.

浅qiǎnshallow
水shuǐwater

浅 describes the depth of 水, making shallow water.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 淺; 浅 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
氵Written in full as水shuǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
戔
戔jiān淺qiǎn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 淺 pairs 氵 (water) with 戔 to give the sound; 浅 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original parts.

Open 浅 →

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 →
Appears in
Geography & Landforms

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