海平面 (hǎi píng miàn) — sea level | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

sea level

海平面。
Quán qiú biàn nuǎn dǎo zhì hǎi píng miàn shàng shēng.
Global warming is causing sea level to rise.
海平面。
Zhè ge chéng shì de hǎi bá bǐ hǎi píng miàn gāo èr bǎi mǐ.
This city's altitude is 200 meters above sea level.
海平面。
Fēi jī zài hǎi píng miàn shàng fēi xíng shí fēn píng wěn.
The plane flew very smoothly above sea level.

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.

平面level surface

偏正Modifier + head

海 names the sea, while 平面 describes a level surface, yielding sea level.

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.

氵每海

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

每

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

海 pairs 氵 (water) with 每, which gives the sound. The 氵 side shows it is about water.

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

The origin is uncertain. One explanation combines 八 (division) and 亏 (exhaled air) to show smooth speech.

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

面 originally drew a man’s face, with one eye exaggerated; the horizontal stroke was added later.

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