接壤 (jiē rǎng) — to border on, to share a border with

Definition

verb
to border onto share a border with

Examples

  • 接壤。
    Zhōng guó hé é luó sī jiē rǎng.
    China borders on Russia.
  • 接壤。
    Zhè ge chéng shì jiē rǎng yì tiáo dà hé.
    This city borders a big river.
  • 接壤。
    Liǎng guó de lǐng tǔ zài běi bù jiē rǎng.
    The two countries' territories border each other in the north.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

接jiētouch
壤rǎngland

接 means touch and 壤 means land, so borders touch.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
扌Written in full as手shǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
妾
妾qiè接jiē
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left part 扌 shows a hand, matching the sense of receiving something in the hand, while 妾 gives the character its sound.

Open 接 →

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
土土tǔearth, dirt
Sound part声符shēngfú
襄
襄xiāng壤rǎng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left side 土 is earth or dirt, showing the meaning; the right side 襄 gives the sound.

Open 壤 →

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