玄武岩 (xuán wǔ yán) — basalt

Definition

noun
basalt
Measure word · 块

Examples

  • 玄武岩，。
    Zhè zhǒng xuán wǔ yán fēi cháng jiān yìng, cháng yòng yú jiàn zhù.
    This kind of basalt is very hard and often used in construction.
  • 玄武岩。
    Kē xué jiā zài yuè qiú shàng fā xiàn le xuán wǔ yán.
    Scientists discovered basalt on the moon.
  • 玄武岩。
    Zhè tiáo gōng lù shì yòng xuán wǔ yán pū chéng de.
    This road is paved with basalt.

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.

玄武Xuanwu
玄xuándark武wǔmartial
联合Side by side
岩yánrock

玄武岩 is the basalt stone: 玄 and 武 form 玄武, and 岩 means rock.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

The shape of 玄 represents a rope made of twisted strands, with a mark above it.

Open 玄 →

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

武 puts 戈 (dagger-axe) above 止 (foot/to walk), showing an army going on an expedition.

Open 武 →

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 巖; 岩 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
山山shānmountain
Sound part声符shēngfú
嚴
嚴yán巖yán
Same sound today

The traditional form 巖 combines 山 (mountain) with 嚴, a part that gives the sound; the simplified 岩 is a later shorthand, and its parts are not the original parts.

Open 岩 →

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