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祭坛 (jì tán) — sacrificial altar

Definition

noun
sacrificial altar
Measure word · 座

Examples

  • 祭坛。
    Gǔ dài rén men zài jì tán shàng jǔ xíng jì sì huó dòng.
    Ancient people held sacrificial ceremonies at the altar.
  • 祭坛。
    Zhè zuò jì tán shì yòng shí tou jiàn chéng de.
    This altar is built of stone.
  • 祭坛。
    Kǎo gǔ xué jiā zài yí zhǐ zhōng fā xiàn le yí gè gǔ lǎo de jì tán.
    Archaeologists found an ancient altar at the site.

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.

祭jìsacrificial rite
坛tánaltar

祭 denotes sacrificial rites, and 坛 is the raised platform where they occur.

Characters in this word

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

祭 shows 又 (hand) offering 肉 (meat) at 示 (altar/ceremony).

Open 祭 →

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 壇; 坛 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
土土tǔ
Sound part声符shēngfú
亶
亶dǎn壇tán
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 壇 pairs 土 (earth) with 亶 as a sound component; the simplified 坛 is a later shorthand.

Open 坛 →
Appears in
Religion & Belief

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