小山 (xiǎo shān) — small hill | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

small hill

Measure word · 座

Examples

小山。
Cūn zi hòu miàn yǒu yí zuò xiǎo shān.
There is a small hill behind the village.
小山。
Tā men pá shàng le nà zuò xiǎo shān.
They climbed up that small hill.
小山。
xiǎo shān Shàng zhǎng mǎn le yě huā.
The small hill is covered with wildflowers.

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.

The 小 part means small and 山 means hill; together they name a small hill.

Characters in this word

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

八八bāto divide; to separate
丨丨gǔnsmall object

The shape of 小 comes from three small dots, later elongated into its strokes; the apparent parts 八 and 丨 are a later way of seeing it.

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

山 shows three mountain peaks side by side.

Appears in

Geography & Landforms

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