相撞 (xiāng zhuàng) — to collide, to run into each other

Definition

相撞 (xiāng zhuàng) means two things crash into each other — the 相- marks the mutual action, so it always takes two sides colliding, not one hitting the other.

verb
to collideto run into each other

Examples

  • 相撞。
    Liǎng liàng chē zài shí zì lù kǒu xiāng zhuàng le.
    Two cars collided at the intersection.
  • 相撞。
    Liǎng sōu chuán zài dà wù zhōng xiāng zhuàng le.
    Two ships collided in the thick fog.
  • 相撞。
    Liǎng gè qí zì xíng chē de rén zài jiē shàng xiāng zhuàng le.
    Two cyclists collided on the street.

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.

相xiāngmutually
撞zhuànghit

Mutually plus hit means to collide with each other.

Characters in this word

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

In 相, 目 is an eye and 木 is a tree, showing an eye looking at a tree; this originally meant “to observe.”

Open 相 →

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
扌Written in full as手shǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
童
童tóng撞zhuàng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left side 扌 is the hand radical, written in full as 手, and the right side 童 supplies the sound.

Open 撞 →

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