河口 (hé kǒu) — river mouth | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

river mouth

Measure word · 个

Easily confused

可口kě kǒulook-aliketasty, delicious

Examples

河口。
Zhè tiáo hé de hé kǒu hěn kuān.
The mouth of this river is very wide.
河口。
Chuán zhī cóng hé kǒu jìn rù nèi hé.
Ships enter the inland river through the river mouth.
河口。
hé kǒu Fù jìn yǒu hěn duō yú.
There are many fish near the river mouth.

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.

河 names the river and 口 the opening, marking where a river flows out.

Characters in this word

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

何

何hé河hé

Same sound today

河 pairs 水 (water) with 何, which gives the sound. The 水 part marks it as a word for a river.

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

The form 口 looks like an open mouth.

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