相邻 (xiāng lín) — to adjoin, to border on

Definition

verb
to adjointo border on

Examples

  • 相邻。
    Zhè liǎng gè guó jiā xiāng lín.
    These two countries are adjacent.
  • 相邻。
    Wǒ men de huā yuán yǔ gōng yuán xiāng lín.
    Our garden adjoins the park.
  • 相邻。
    Tā men zhù zài xiāng lín de fáng jiān lǐ.
    They live in adjacent rooms.

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
邻línbe adjacent

相 means mutually and 邻 means be adjacent, so together they mean bordering one another.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 鄰; 邻 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
阝Written in full as邑yì
Sound part声符shēngfú
粦
粦lín鄰lín
Same sound today

The traditional form 鄰 pairs 粦 (lín) as the sound part with 阝 (the full form 邑, a settlement) as the meaning part; 邻 is a simplified shorthand.

Open 邻 →

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