横亘 (héng gèn) — to span; to stretch across (a distance or area)

Definition

A formal/literary verb meaning 'to lie across, to stretch across' a wide area (mountains, railways, walls). Used in writing and speech about large, horizontal features spanning a landscape — not for small or everyday objects.

verb
to spanto stretch across (a distance or area)

Examples

  • 横亘。
    Yí zuò dà shān héng gèn zài píng yuán hé chéng shì zhī jiān.
    A big mountain spans between the plain and the city.
  • 横亘，。
    Zhè tiáo tiě lù héng gèn zhěng gè guó jiā, lián jiē dōng xī.
    This railway spans the entire country, connecting east and west.
  • 横亘。
    Yí dào cháng chéng héng gèn zài běi fāng de dà dì shàng.
    A section of the Great Wall stretches across the northern land.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

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

横héngacross
亘gènextend

横 gives the idea of lying across, and 亘 adds stretching continuously.

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 橫; 横 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mùwood
Sound part声符shēngfú
黃
黃huáng橫héng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 橫 has 木, meaning wood, beside 黃, which supplies the sound; the simplified 横 is a later abbreviation.

Open 横 →

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

The shape of 亘 comes from combining 二 and 囘.

Open 亘 →

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