泉涌 (quán chōng) — to gush, to well up (of liquid or figurative flow)

Definition

Literary verb meaning 'to gush / well up' — used for spring water, tears, or figurative flow like 文思 (inspiration). Almost always paired with 而出. Avoid in everyday spoken Chinese.

verb
to gushto well up (of liquid or figurative flow)

Examples

  • 泉涌。
    Quán shuǐ cóng dì xià quán chōng ér chū.
    Spring water gushes out from the ground.
  • 泉涌。
    Lèi shuǐ cóng tā de yǎn lǐ quán chōng ér chū.
    Tears gushed from his eyes.
  • 泉涌，。
    Wén sī quán chōng, tā hěn kuài jiù xiě hǎo le.
    Literary inspiration gushed, and he finished writing quickly.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

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

泉quánspring
涌yǒngwell up

泉 is a spring and 涌 means well up, giving the sense of liquid gushing.

Characters in this word

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

泉 pairs 白 (spring mouth) with 水 (water) to show water flowing from the source of a spring.

Open 泉 →

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 湧; 涌 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
勇
勇yǒng湧yǒng
Same sound today

The traditional form 湧 has 水 (water) and 勇, where 勇 gives the sound. The simplified 涌 is a later shorthand.

Open 涌 →

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