浜 (bāng) — creek, small stream (used in place names)

Definition

浜 is a bound form used in place names (e.g. 沙家浜, 外浜), referring to a small creek. It almost never appears in everyday speech on its own.

bound form

creeksmall stream (used in place names)

Easily confused

浜《》。
Shā jiā bāng shì jīng jù 《shā jiā bāng》 de gù shi fā shēng dì.
Shajiabang is the setting of the Peking opera 'Shajiabang'.
“浜”，“浜”。
Shàng hǎi yǒu hěn duō yǐ "bāng" jié wěi de dì míng, bǐ rú "wài bāng".
Shanghai has many place names ending with 'bang', such as 'Waibang'.
浜，。
Zhè tiáo hé bāng suī rán bú dà, dàn yǎng huó le liǎng àn de nóng tián.
This creek is not big, but it sustains the farmland on both banks.

Sound + meaning

六书liùshū

形声xíngshēng

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

氵兵浜

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

兵

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left part 氵 is the water form 水, and the right part 兵 gives the character's sound.