峡谷 (xiá gǔ) — canyon | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A 峡谷 is a deep, narrow canyon carved by a river — narrower and steeper than a 山谷. 沟 is shallower, usually a small drainage channel or gully.

noun

canyon

Measure word · 条

Examples

峡谷。
Wǒ xià ge yuè yào qù měi guó de xiá gǔ lǚ xíng.
I'm going to travel to a canyon in the US next month.
峡谷。
Zhè ge xiá gǔ de liǎng biān dōu shì hěn gāo de shān.
Both sides of this canyon are very high mountains.
峡谷，。
Zhàn zài xiá gǔ biān shàng wǎng xià miàn kàn, xīn lǐ hěn jī dòng.
Standing at the edge of the canyon and looking down, my heart was very excited.

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.

谷gǔvalley

The 峡 gorge specifies the 谷 valley as a narrow canyon.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 峽; 峡 is its simplified writing.

山夾峽

Meaning part形符xíngfú

山山shānmountain

Sound part声符shēngfú

夾

夾jiā峽

Same sound today

The traditional form 峽 combines 山, a mountain, with 夾, used for its sound; this note describes 峽, not 峡.

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

The shape of 谷 comes from a picture of a valley: an opening between two near-parallel lines for mountain walls.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 HSK 2.0 Level 6 Geography & Landforms

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