山崖 (shān yá) — cliff

Definition

noun
cliff
Measure word · 座

Examples

  • 山崖,。
    Zhè zuò shān yá fēi cháng dǒu qiào, hěn shǎo yǒu rén néng pá shàng qù.
    This cliff is very steep, and very few people can climb it.
  • 山崖,。
    Zhàn zài shān yá biān shàng, kě yǐ kàn dào zhěng gè shān gǔ.
    Standing at the edge of the cliff, you can see the whole valley.
  • 山崖。
    Tā men yán zhe shān yá zǒu le yì tiáo xiǎo lù.
    They walked along a small path on the cliff.

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
崖yácliff

A cliff on a mountain, 山 'mountain' specifying 崖 'cliff'.

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.

Open 山 →

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
山山shānmountain
Sound part声符shēngfú
厓
厓yá崖yá
Same sound today

崖 pairs 山 (mountain) with 厓 (cliff), and 厓 gives the sound yá.

Open 崖 →

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