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草场 (cǎo chǎng) — meadow, pasture, grassland

Definition

noun
meadowpasturegrassland
Measure word · 块

Examples

  • 草场。
    Zhè piàn cǎo chǎng hěn dà.
    This meadow is very large.
  • 草场。
    Niú zài cǎo chǎng shàng chī cǎo.
    Cows are grazing on the pasture.
  • 草场。
    Wǒ men qí mǎ chuān guò cǎo chǎng.
    We rode horses through the grassland.

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.

草cǎograss
场chǎngground

草 marks the grass, and 场 is an open ground.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant
Sound part声符shēngfú
早
早zǎo草cǎo
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

草 pairs 艹 (grass; plant) with 早, which gives the sound. The form originally referred to another word and was later used for the grass sense.

Open 草 →

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 場; 场 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
土土tǔearth
Sound part声符shēngfú
昜
昜yáng場chǎng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 場 pairs 土 (earth) with 昜 as a sound part; the simplified 场 is a later abbreviation, so its parts do not have that historical role.

Open 场 →
Appears in
Geography & Landforms

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