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横向 (héng xiàng) — horizontal; lateral (referring to cross-departmental or across levels in an organization)

Definition

Used for the horizontal direction and for cross-organizational coordination (横向合作), contrasted with 垂直 ('vertical') and 纵向 (across levels). The plain adjective is 横; 横向 often appears as an attributive before nouns.

adjective
horizontallateral (referring to cross-departmental or across levels in an organization)

Examples

  • 横向。
    Qǐng bǎ tú piàn héng xiàng pái liè.
    Please arrange the pictures horizontally.
  • 横向，。
    Gōng sī yīng gāi jiā qiáng héng xiàng hé zuò, tí gāo xiào lǜ.
    Companies should strengthen horizontal cooperation to improve efficiency.
  • 横向。
    héng xiàng Hé zòng xiàng de fā zhǎn dōu hěn zhòng yào.
    Both horizontal and vertical development are important.

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.

横hénghorizontal
向xiàngdirection

横 (horizontal) plus 向 (direction) means a horizontal or lateral direction.

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.

向 originally drew 宀 (house) with 口 to show an echo in a place; later it was used for direction.

Open 向 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Directions

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