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金矿 (jīn kuàng) — gold mine

Definition

noun
gold mine
Measure word · 座

Examples

  • 金矿。
    Zhè zuò jīn kuàng de gōng rén zhèng zài kāi cǎi.
    Workers are mining at this gold mine.
  • 金矿。
    Zhè běn cí diǎn shì yǔ yán xué xí de jīn kuàng.
    This dictionary is a gold mine for language learning.
  • 金矿。
    Nà ge jīn kuàng xī yǐn le xǔ duō tóu zī zhě.
    That gold mine attracted many investors.

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.

金jīngold
矿kuàngmine; deposit

金 names gold and 矿 names a deposit or mine; together they mean a place where gold is mined.

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.

金 was drawn with marks for two pieces of metal, along with a part that gave its sound; it first meant copper, then metals and gold.

Open 金 →

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 →
Appears in
Materials & Substances

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