沙坑 (shā kēng) — sandpit; jumping pit (in sports) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

sandpitjumping pit (in sports)

Measure word · 个

Examples

沙坑。
Yùn dòng yuán zài shā kēng lǐ tiào le hěn yuǎn.
The athlete jumped far in the sandpit.
沙坑。
Hái zi men zài shā kēng lǐ wán dé hěn kāi xīn.
The children had a great time playing in the sandpit.
沙坑。
Gōng rén men zài shā kēng qián tíng xià le jiǎo bù.
The workers stopped in front of the sandpit.

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.

沙 gives the sand and 坑 gives the pit, naming a sand-filled pit.

Characters in this word

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

水水shuǐwater
少少shǎodots

沙 puts 少 (dots) beside 水 (water), showing sand on a shoreline.

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

Sports & Athletics

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