裂谷 (liè gǔ) — rift valley

Definition

noun
rift valley

Examples

  • 裂谷。
    Zhè tiáo liè gǔ wèi yú fēi zhōu dōng bù.
    This rift valley is located in East Africa.
  • 裂谷。
    liè gǔ De xíng chéng yǔ dì qiào yùn dòng yǒu guān.
    The formation of rift valleys is related to crustal movement.
  • 裂谷。
    Kē xué jiā zhèng zài yán jiū zhè tiáo liè gǔ de yǎn biàn guò chéng.
    Scientists are studying the evolution of this rift valley.

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.

裂lièrift
谷gǔvalley

'裂' describes a split and '谷' a valley, giving a valley formed by rifting.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
衣衣yīclothes
Sound part声符shēngfú
列
列liè裂liè
Same sound today

裂 combines 衣 (clothes) with 列 for the sound. The picture of 列 shows bones cut by a blade and lined up, and the whole writes the idea of cutting and tearing clothes.

Open 裂 →

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

The shape of 谷 comes from a picture of a valley: an opening between two near-parallel lines for mountain walls.

Open 谷 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.