交界 (jiāo jiè) — to share a border; to border on | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Used when two regions or countries share a boundary line. 交叉 refers to lines or roads crossing/overlapping, not territorial borders.

verb

to share a borderto border on

Examples

交界。
Zhōng guó yǔ é luó sī jiāo jiè.
China shares a border with Russia.
交界。
Zhè liǎng gè guó jiā zài běi bù jiāo jiè.
These two countries border each other in the north.
交界。
Zhè tiáo hé yǔ liǎng gè shěng fèn jiāo jiè.
This river borders two provinces.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

界jièboundary

交 meet and 界 boundary picture two sides meeting at a border, hence sharing a border.

Characters in this word

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

交 originally drew a human with crossed legs. In the modern shape, the upper part resembles a standing person.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

田介界

Meaning part形符xíngfú

田田tiánfield

Sound part声符shēngfú

介

介jiè界jiè

Same sound today

界 is built from 田 (field) and 介. 田 carries the meaning, while 介 gives the sound.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Geography & Landforms

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