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开垦 (kāi kěn) — to clear (wild land) for cultivation; to reclaim (wasteland)

Definition

开垦 (kāikěn) means turning wild or unused land into farmland — more concrete than 开拓 (开拓 = open up territory, markets, frontiers). It pairs specifically with 荒地/wasteland, unlike 耕 which just means plowing.

verb
to clear (wild land) for cultivationto reclaim (wasteland)

Examples

  • 开垦。
    Nóng mín men zài shān qū kāi kěn le yí piàn tī tián.
    The farmers cleared a terraced field in the mountain area.
  • 开垦，。
    Jīng guò jǐ nián de kāi kěn, zhè piàn huāng mò biàn chéng le liáng tián.
    After several years of reclamation, this desert turned into fertile farmland.
  • 开垦。
    Zhèng fǔ gǔ lì rén men kāi kěn huāng dì zhòng zhí liáng shi.
    The government encourages people to reclaim wasteland for grain cultivation.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

开kāiopen
垦kěntill

开 means to open, and 垦 means to till, so it means clearing land for farming.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 開; 开 is its simplified writing.

  • 門門méndoor
  • 一一yīlatch and/or wooden pole that shuts a door
  • 廾廾gǒnga pair of hands

The traditional form 開 shows 廾, a pair of hands, and 一, a latch or pole, inside 門, a door: hands opening a latched door. The simplified 开 is a shorthand form, so its parts are not the original pieces.

Open 开 →

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 墾; 垦 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 墾 pairs 貇, which gives the sound, with 土, earth/soil; 垦 is a later simplified form.

Open 垦 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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