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矿山 (kuàng shān) — mine (for extracting minerals)

Definition

noun
mine (for extracting minerals)
Measure word · 座

Examples

  • 矿山。
    Zhè ge kuàng shān de gōng rén měi tiān gōng zuò bā xiǎo shí.
    The workers at this mine work eight hours a day.
  • 矿山。
    Nà ge kuàng shān lǐ yǒu hěn duō tiě kuàng shí.
    That mine has a lot of iron ore.
  • 矿山。
    Zhèng fǔ guān bì le nà zuò bù ān quán de kuàng shān.
    The government closed that unsafe mine.

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.

矿kuàngmineral
山shānmountain

矿 names minerals and 山 a mountain, together a mining mountain.

Characters in this word

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 礦; 矿 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
石石shístone
Sound part声符shēngfú
廣
廣guǎng礦kuàng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 礦 shows 石, meaning stone, beside 廣, which gives the sound. The simplified 矿 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original parts.

Open 矿 →

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 →
Appears in
Industry & Manufacturing

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