矿泉 (kuàng quán) — mineral spring

Definition

Refers to a natural spring whose water is rich in minerals and trace elements, valued for drinking and bathing. The compound form 矿泉水 means 'mineral water' as a bottled product.

noun
mineral spring

Examples

  • 矿泉。
    Zhè píng yǐn yòng shuǐ jiù qǔ zì shān jiān de kuàng quán.
    This bottle of drinking water is taken from a mountain mineral spring.
  • 矿泉，。
    kuàng quán De shuǐ zhì fēi cháng chún jìng, hán yǒu duō zhǒng wēi liàng yuán sù.
    The water quality of mineral springs is very pure, containing many kinds of trace elements.
  • 矿泉，。
    Zhè ge dì qū de kuàng quán lì shǐ yōu jiǔ le, hěn duō yóu kè zhuān mén lái pǐn cháng.
    The mineral springs in this region have a long history, and many tourists come specifically to taste them.

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
泉quánspring

矿 means mineral and 泉 is a spring, giving the sense of a mineral spring.

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 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

泉 pairs 白 (spring mouth) with 水 (water) to show water flowing from the source of a spring.

Open 泉 →

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