少林寺 (shào lín sì) — Shaolin Temple (famous Buddhist monastery in Henan, China, known for its martial arts tradition)

Definition

noun
Shaolin Temple (famous Buddhist monastery in Henan, China, known for its martial arts tradition)
Measure word · 座

Examples

  • 少林寺，。
    Wǒ qù guò shào lín sì, nà lǐ yǒu hěn duō hé shàng liàn wǔ.
    I went to the Shaolin Temple; there are many monks practicing martial arts there.
  • 少林寺。
    shào lín sì Shì zhōng guó de zhù míng jǐng diǎn.
    The Shaolin Temple is a famous scenic spot in China.
  • 少林寺。
    Hěn duō wài guó rén zhuān mén lái shào lín sì xué wǔ shù.
    Many foreigners come specifically to the Shaolin Temple to learn martial arts.

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.

少林Shaolin forest
少shǎoShao林línforest
偏正Modifier + head
寺sìtemple

少林 marks the forest at Shaoshi Mountain, and 寺 identifies the Buddhist monastery.

Characters in this word

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

The form 少 is drawn as four dots, perhaps three grains of sand, to indicate a few or a little.

Open 少 →

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

林 is made of two 木 (tree) placed side by side, showing many trees together, hence a forest.

Open 林 →

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
又又yòuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
𡳿
之zhī寺sì
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 寺, the top comes from 之, a footprint pointing up, and the hand part 又 later changed shape; the original picture showed grasping or holding.

Open 寺 →

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