珊瑚礁 (shān hú jiāo) — coral reef

Definition

noun
coral reef
Measure word · 座

Examples

  • 珊瑚礁。
    Bǎo hù shān hú jiāo duì wǒ men hěn zhòng yào.
    Protecting coral reefs is very important to us.
  • 珊瑚礁。
    Qián shuǐ de shí hou wǒ kàn dào le yí gè jù dà de shān hú jiāo.
    When diving, I saw a huge coral reef.
  • 珊瑚礁。
    Zhè ge shān hú jiāo lǐ yǒu gè zhǒng gè yàng de xiǎo yú.
    There are all kinds of small fish in this coral reef.

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.

珊瑚coral
珊shāncoral瑚húcoral
联合Coordinate

“珊瑚” is coral and “礁” is reef: a reef formed by coral.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 珊 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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
石石shírock
Sound part声符shēngfú
焦
焦jiāo礁jiāo
Same sound today

礁 pairs 石, rock, with 焦, which gives the sound.

Open 礁 →

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