野火 (yě huǒ) — wildfire, brush fire; farm fire used for cleari… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

wildfirebrush firefarm fire used for clearing fields

Measure word · 场

Examples

野火。
Sēn lín lǐ de yě huǒ shāo le hǎo jǐ tiān.
The wildfire in the forest burned for several days.
野火。
Nóng mín yòng yě huǒ lái qīng lǐ tián dì.
Farmers use field fires to clear the land.
野火，。
yě huǒ Màn yán dé hěn kuài, bì xū xiǎo xīn.
Wildfires spread very quickly; one must be careful.

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.

野 and 火 combine to mean fire in wild land.

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

田田tiánfield

土土tǔearth

Sound part声符shēngfú

予

予yǔ野yě

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

野 combines 田 (field) above 土 (earth) to show open country, with 予 giving the sound.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

火 is a simple drawing of a fire, with flames shown rising upward.

Appears in

Environment & Ecology

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