火山岩 (huǒ shān yán) — volcanic rock; lava

Definition

Compound noun meaning 'volcanic rock' — rock formed from cooled lava or volcanic activity. The 'lava' sense refers to molten volcanic rock.

noun
volcanic rocklava
Measure word · 块

Examples

  • 火山岩。
    Zhè zhǒng huǒ shān yán fēi cháng jiān yìng.
    This type of volcanic rock is very hard.
  • 火山岩。
    huǒ shān yán De huà xué chéng fèn yǒu hěn duō zhǒng.
    There are many types of chemical compositions in volcanic rock.
  • 火山岩。
    Nà zuò huǒ shān pēn chū le dà liàng huǒ shān yán.
    That volcano erupted a large amount of lava.

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.

火山volcano
火huǒfire山shānmountain
偏正Modifier + head
岩yánrock

"火山" volcano and "岩" rock combine to mean volcanic rock.

Characters in this word

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

火 is a simple drawing of a fire, with flames shown rising upward.

Open 火 →

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

山 shows three mountain peaks side by side.

Open 山 →

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 巖; 岩 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
山山shānmountain
Sound part声符shēngfú
嚴
嚴yán巖yán
Same sound today

The traditional form 巖 combines 山 (mountain) with 嚴, a part that gives the sound; the simplified 岩 is a later shorthand, and its parts are not the original parts.

Open 岩 →

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