漠 (mò) — (bound form) desert; (bound form) indifferent, aloof, cold
Definition
A bound morpheme, not used alone. 沙漠 = desert; 冷漠 = cold and indifferent (toward people, problems, etc.).
bound form
desertindifferentaloofcold
Easily confused
- 摸mōlook-aliketo touch, to feel (with the hand)
- 莫mòsound-alike(literary) do not (prohibitive adverb, equivalent to 不要 in formal contexts)
- 谟mólook-alike(literary, bound form) plan, scheme
- 末mòsound-alikethe end, final stage (of a period of time or an object)
- 模mólook-alikemold; pattern; form (bound form, used in compounds)
- 默mòsound-alikesilent; tacit
Examples
- ，。Zhè piàn shā mò fēi cháng dà, zǒu le yì tiān hái kàn bú dào biān yuán.This desert is very large; after walking for a day you still can't see the edge.
- 。Tā duì bié rén de kùn nan zǒng shì hěn lěng mò.He is always very indifferent to others' difficulties.
- 。Tā duì zhè jiàn shì mò bù guān xīn.He is completely indifferent to this matter.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.
漠 pairs 水 (water) with 莫 as the sound part. The water part shows the meaning is connected to water.
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