清水 (Qīng shuǐ) — clear, fresh water

Definition

noun
clearfresh water

Examples

  • 清水,。
    Zhè bēi Qīng shuǐ hěn gān jìng, kě yǐ zhí jiē hē.
    This glass of clear water is very clean; you can drink it directly.
  • 清水,。
    Shān lǐ de Qīng shuǐ liú jìn hé lǐ, huán jìng hěn hǎo.
    The clear water from the mountains flows into the river, and the environment is very good.
  • 清水。
    Bǎo hù Qīng shuǐ zī yuán duì wǒ men fēi cháng zhòng yào.
    Protecting fresh water resources is very important to us.

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.

清 describes clearness, and 水 names water, together meaning clear 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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
青
青qīng清qīng
Same sound today

清 has 氵 (water) on the left and 青 on the right to show its sound.

Open 清 →

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 →

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