天涯 (tiān yá) — far corners of the earth; a place extremely far… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Literary idiom for 'the ends of the earth' — an extremely distant place. Almost always appears in the set phrase 天涯海角 ('the ends of the earth and the corners of the sea').

noun

far corners of the eartha place extremely far away

Examples

天涯，。
Bù guǎn zǒu dào tiān yá, wǒ yě bú huì wàng jì jiā xiāng.
No matter how far I go, I won't forget my hometown.
天涯，。
Tā men suī rán xiāng gé tiān yá, dàn xīn què jǐn jǐn xiāng lián.
Although they are separated by the ends of the earth, their hearts are tightly connected.
。
Wǒ men yuē hǎo zǒu biàn tiān yá hǎi jiǎo.
We agreed to travel to the ends of the earth together.

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.

天 means sky and 涯 means edge, picturing the far edge of the world.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

丁

丁dīng天tiān

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape comes from a frontal standing man 大 with a head; 天 pairs 大 with 丁 for sound.

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

氵厓涯

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

厓

厓yá涯yá

Same sound today

涯 puts 氵 (water) beside 厓 (cliff; to limit), showing a cliff by the water and giving the sense of a shore or edge.

Appears in

Geography & Landforms

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