红山 (hóng shān) — (place name) Hongshan, as in Hongshan District or Hongshan culture

Definition

A proper place name used in compound names like 红山区 (a district) and 红山文化 (a Neolithic culture). The 'gōng' reading here is a fixed name, not the general noun 山.

noun
(place name) Hongshan, as in Hongshan District or Hongshan culture
Easily confused

Examples

  • 红山。
    Zhōng guó de hóng shān wén huà hěn yǒu míng.
    China's Hongshan culture is very famous.
  • 红山。
    Wǒ jiā zhù zài hóng shān qū.
    My home is in Hongshan District.
  • 红山。
    hóng shān Shì nèi měng gǔ de yí gè dì fāng.
    Hongshan is a place in Inner Mongolia.

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.

红hóngred
山shānmountain

红山 pictures a red hill; Hongshan District and Hongshan culture take their name from that image.

Characters in this word

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 紅; 红 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糸糸mìsilk
Sound part声符shēngfú
工
工gōng紅hóng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 紅 puts 糸 (silk) next to 工, which gives the sound; the simplified 红 is a later shorthand.

Open 红 →

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

山 shows three mountain peaks side by side.

Open 山 →

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