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石块 (shí kuài) — a piece of stone; a stone block

Definition

noun
a piece of stonea stone block
Measure word · 块

Examples

  • 石块。
    Gōng rén yòng shí kuài pù le yì tiáo lù.
    The workers paved a road with stone blocks.
  • 石块，。
    Zhè kuài shí kuài hěn dà, yí gè rén bān bú dòng.
    This stone block is very big; one person can't move it.
  • 石块。
    Gǔ dài rén yòng shí kuài jiàn zào fáng wū.
    Ancient people built houses with stone blocks.

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.

石shístone
块kuàiblock

石 denotes stone, and 块 denotes a solid lump.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 石 shows a stone under a cliff-like overhang, or a cave set into a cliff side.

Open 石 →

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 塊; 块 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
土土tǔearth; dust
Sound part声符shēngfú
鬼
鬼guǐ塊kuài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 塊 pairs 土 (earth; dust) with 鬼 as a sound part to show a clod of dirt. The simplified 块 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the historical pieces.

Open 块 →
Appears in
Materials & Substances

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