北岸 (běi àn) — northern bank, northern shore (of a river or la… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Compound noun meaning 'northern bank/shore', used for the north side of a river or lake — pairs naturally with 对岸 'opposite bank'.

noun

northern banknorthern shore (of a river or lake)

Examples

北岸。
Wǒ men zhù zài hé de běi àn.
We live on the northern bank of the river.
北岸。
Cóng běi àn kě yǐ kàn dào duì àn de chéng shì.
From the northern shore you can see the city on the opposite shore.
北岸。
Zhè tiáo hé de běi àn yǒu yí gè xiǎo cūn zhuāng.
There is a small village on the northern bank of this river.

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.

北 means 'north' and 岸 means 'bank', referring to the northern bank or shore.

Characters in this word

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

The form 北 shows two people standing back to back. It originally meant 'back'.

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

屵屵àncliff

Sound part声符shēngfú

干

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

岸 shows 屵, a cliff, next to 干, which gives a clue to the sound; together they point to the edge of land.

Appears in

Geography & Landforms

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