石柱 (Shí zhù) — stone pillar | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

stone pillar

Measure word · 根

石柱。
Zhè zuò sì miào qián lì zhe liǎng pái gǔ lǎo de Shí zhù.
In front of this temple stand two rows of ancient stone pillars.
石柱。
Kǎo gǔ xué jiā zài yí zhǐ zhōng fā xiàn le yí kuài kè yǒu míng wén de Shí zhù.
Archaeologists found a stone pillar with inscriptions at the site.
石柱。
Zhè xiē Shí zhù zhī chēng zhe zhěng gè dà diàn de wū dǐng.
These stone pillars support the roof of the entire hall.

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.

石 gives stone and 柱 gives pillar, yielding a stone pillar.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 石 shows a stone under a cliff-like overhang, or a cave set into a cliff side.

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

木主柱

Meaning part形符xíngfú

木木mùwood

Sound part声符shēngfú

主

Same sound today

The left part 木 shows that 柱 is connected with wood. The right part 主 gives the pronunciation.