水坑 (shuǐ kēng) — puddle; pool; water hole | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

puddlepoolwater hole

Measure word · 个

Examples

水坑。
Yǔ hòu dì shàng yǒu hěn duō shuǐ kēng.
After the rain, there are many puddles on the ground.
，水坑！
Xiǎo xīn, qián miàn yǒu gè shuǐ kēng!
Be careful, there's a puddle ahead!
。
Dòng wù men zài shuǐ kēng biān hē shuǐ.
The animals are drinking water at the water hole.

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.

水 is water and 坑 is a pit, together a small water-filled hollow.

Characters in this word

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

水 is a simple drawing of water flowing.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

亢土坑

Meaning part形符xíngfú

土土tǔsoil

Sound part声符shēngfú

亢

亢kàng坑kēng(r)

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The current form 坑 uses 土 (soil) for the meaning and 亢 for the sound.

Appears in

Geography & Landforms

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