石碑 (shí bēi) — stone tablet, stele (for inscriptions) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

stone tabletstele (for inscriptions)

Measure word · 方

Examples

石碑。
Zhè zuò shí bēi yǒu jǐ bǎi nián de lì shǐ le.
This stele has a history of several hundred years.
石碑。
Nà lǐ lì zhe yì fāng shí bēi.
There stands a stone tablet.
石碑。
Zhè kuài shí bēi shàng miàn de zì yǐ jīng kàn bù qīng le.
The characters on this stone tablet are already unreadable.

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.

石碑 joins stone and tablet, so it means a carved stone marker.

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.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

石卑碑

Meaning part形符xíngfú

石石shístone

Sound part声符shēngfú

卑

卑bēi碑bēi

Same sound today

碑 shows 石 (stone) beside 卑, with 卑 giving the sound.

Appears in

Buildings & Structures

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.