黄土 (huáng tǔ) — loess

Definition

noun
loess
Measure word · 片

Examples

  • 黄土。
    huáng tǔ Zài zhōng guó hěn duō dì fāng dōu kě yǐ kàn dào.
    Loess can be seen in many places in China.
  • 黄土。
    huáng tǔ Gāo yuán shì huáng hé wén míng de fā yuán dì.
    The Loess Plateau is the birthplace of the Yellow River civilization.
  • 黄土。
    Zhè zhǒng huáng tǔ fēi cháng shì hé zhòng zhí nóng zuò wù.
    This kind of loess is very suitable for growing crops.

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.

黄huángyellow
土tǔsoil

Yellow 黄 describes the earthy soil 土 that forms loess.

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 黃; 黄 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
田田tiánfield
Sound part声符shēngfú
炗
炗guāng黃huáng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 黃 pairs 田 (field) with 炗 (light), which gives the sound; the simplified 黄 is a shorthand and its parts are not historical components.

Open 黄 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 土 →

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