淡水 (dàn shuǐ) — fresh water (water with low salt content) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

淡水 is 'fresh water' — water with low salt content, as opposed to salt water (海水). 饮用水 is the subset safe for drinking.

noun

fresh water (water with low salt content)

Examples

淡水。
Zhè piàn dì qū quē shǎo dàn shuǐ.
This region lacks fresh water.
淡水。
dàn shuǐ Duì rén lèi hěn zhòng yào.
Fresh water is very important to humans.
淡水。
Zhè ge chéng shì yǒu fēng fù de dàn shuǐ zī yuán.
This city has abundant fresh water resources.

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.

淡dànlow-salt/fresh

淡 means low-salt or fresh, and 水 means water, so together they name fresh 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.

氵炎淡

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

炎

炎yán淡dàn

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

淡 puts 氵 (water) beside 炎, which gives the sound yán.

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

水 is a simple drawing of water flowing.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 HSK 2.0 Level 6 Materials & Substances

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