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水流 (shuǐ liú) — water current; flow; stream

Definition

水流 (shuǐliú) names the water itself in motion — the current or flow of water, not the riverbed. Unlike 河 or 河流 (the river), it focuses on the moving water.

noun
water currentflowstream
Measure word · 股

Examples

  • 水流，。
    Hé lǐ de shuǐ liú hěn jí, xiǎo chuán gēn běn wú fǎ tōng guò.
    The current in the river is very fast; small boats simply cannot pass.
  • ，水流。
    Shuǐ lóng tóu huài le, shuǐ liú fēi cháng xiǎo.
    The faucet is broken; the water flow is very weak.
  • 水流。
    Shuǐ zhōng de shēng wù xǐ huan zài shuǐ liú huǎn màn de dì fāng shēng huó.
    Aquatic organisms like to live where the water flow is slow.

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shuǐwater
流liúflow

水 gives water and 流 gives flow, together naming the movement of water.

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.

Open 水 →

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
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
㐬
㐬㐬流liú
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

流 has 水, water, and 㐬, which gives the sound. The water part matches meanings such as flow.

Open 流 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6Geography & Landforms

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