水污染 (shuǐ wū rǎn) — water pollution

Definition

noun

water pollution

水污染。
Zhè tiáo hé bèi shuǐ wū rǎn nòng dé bù néng hē le.
This river has been made undrinkable by water pollution.
水污染。
Zhèng fǔ zhèng zài nǔ lì jiě jué shuǐ wū rǎn wèn tí.
The government is working hard to solve the water pollution problem.
水污染。
shuǐ wū rǎn Duì jiàn kāng de wēi hài hěn dà.
Water pollution is very harmful to health.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

污染pollution

联合Side by side

污 means dirty and 染 means stained, while 水 is water, so the word pictures water becoming polluted.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 汙; 污 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

于

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

The traditional form 汙 pairs 水 (water) with 于 for the sound; the simplified 污 is a later shorthand.

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

氵九木染

染 combines 氵 (water), 九 (hook), and 木 (tree): something hung on a hook from a tree into water to dye it.