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出土 (chū tǔ) — to be unearthed, to be excavated

Definition

出土 describes the object itself (an artifact) being brought up from the ground, while 挖掘 and 发掘 describe the act of digging it out. Use 出土 as an attribute ('出土文物') or in passive constructions.

verb
to be unearthedto be excavated

Examples

  • 出土。
    Zhè zuò gǔ mù chū tǔ le xǔ duō zhēn guì wén wù.
    Many precious artifacts were unearthed from this ancient tomb.
  • 出土。
    chū tǔ De qīng tóng qì jiāng bèi sòng wǎng bó wù guǎn zhǎn lǎn.
    The unearthed bronze vessels will be sent to the museum for exhibition.
  • 出土？
    Zhè xiē táo yǒng shì cóng shén me dì fāng chū tǔ de?
    Where were these pottery figurines unearthed from?

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

出chūcome out
土tǔearth

“出” means coming out, “土” means earth, together they picture emerging from the ground or being dug out of it.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

出 combines 止 (foot) and 凵 (cave) to show a foot stepping out of a cave.

Open 出 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 土 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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