脊 (jí) — spine; backbone (of a human or animal); ridge (of a mountain or roof)
Definition
A bound morpheme meaning 'spine' (anatomy) and 'ridge' (of a mountain or roof). It almost always appears as part of compounds like 脊背, 脊柱, 山脊, not by itself.
bound form
spinebackbone (of a human or animal)ridge (of a mountain or roof)
Examples
- 。Shān jí shàng de xuě hěn bái.The snow on the mountain ridge is very white.
- 。Tā de jí gǔ shòu shāng le.His spine was injured.
- 。jí Liáng shì zhī chēng shēn tǐ de zhòng yào bù fen.The backbone is an important part supporting the body.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.
Sound part声符shēngfú
朿
朿cì脊jǐ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.
The original drawing of 脊 showed a fish spine; later 肉 (flesh) was added to point to the meaning, while the upper 朿 part supplied the sound.
Appears in
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