沙堆 (shā duī) — sand dune; sand hill

Definition

noun
sand dunesand hill
Measure word · 座

Examples

  • 沙堆。
    Hái zi men zài shā duī shàng wán dé hěn kāi xīn.
    The children are having a lot of fun playing on the sand dune.
  • 沙堆，。
    Fēng chuī guò shā duī, shā zi fēi le qǐ lái.
    The wind blew across the sand dune, and sand flew up.
  • 沙堆。
    Tā men zài shā mò lǐ pá shàng le yí zuò shā duī.
    They climbed a sand hill in the desert.

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shāsand
堆duīpile

The sand 沙 forms a heap 堆.

Characters in this word

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

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

Open 沙 →

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
土土tǔearth
Sound part声符shēngfú
隹
隹zhuī堆duī
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

堆 is built from 土 (earth) and 隹, which supplies the sound.

Open 堆 →

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