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荒郊 (huāng jiāo) — desolate outskirts of a town; wilderness near a city

Definition

Refers to deserted, uninhabited land on the outskirts of a city — wild and remote rather than just suburban. Almost always appears with 野外 or 荒郊野外 as a set phrase for wilderness.

noun
desolate outskirts of a townwilderness near a city

Examples

  • 荒郊，。
    Chē zi kāi dào le huāng jiāo, sì zhōu kàn bú dào yí gè rén.
    The car drove to the desolate outskirts, with no one in sight.
  • 荒郊。
    Zhè piàn huāng jiāo zài zhàn zhēng nián dài céng shì gè zhòng yào de jù diǎn.
    This desolate outskirts was once an important stronghold during wartime.
  • 荒郊。
    Tā men zài huāng jiāo shàng jiàn qǐ le yí zuò xiǎo cūn zhuāng.
    They built a small village on the desolate outskirts.

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.

荒huāngdesolate
郊jiāooutskirts

荒 means desolate and 郊 means outskirts, together describing barren land near a town.

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
巟
巟huāng荒huāng
Same sound today

荒 is built from 艹 (grass, plant) and 巟, with 巟 giving the sound huāng.

Open 荒 →

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
阝Written in full as邑yì
Sound part声符shēngfú
交
交jiāo郊jiāo
Same sound today

郊 pairs the meaning part 邑 (written as 阝) with 交, the sound part.

Open 郊 →
Appears in
Countryside & Rural

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