山坡 (shān pō) — hillside | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

山坡 is a sloped side of a hill — between 山顶 (the summit) and the base. Compound of 山 (mountain) + 坡 (slope).

noun

hillside

Measure word · 个

Examples

山坡。
shān pō Shàng zhǒng le hěn duō shù.
Many trees were planted on the hillside.
山坡。
Tā men cóng shān pō shàng pǎo le xià lái.
They ran down from the hillside.
山坡。
Zhè ge shān pō de fēng jǐng fēi cháng měi.
The scenery on this hillside is very beautiful.

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.

山shānmountain

The 山 identifies the mountain, and the 坡 gives its sloping side.

Characters in this word

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

山 shows three mountain peaks side by side.

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

土皮坡

Meaning part形符xíngfú

土土tǔdirt

Sound part声符shēngfú

皮

皮pí坡pō

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

坡 combines 土, shown as dirt, with 皮, a part used for sound.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 6 Geography & Landforms

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