贫瘠 (pín jí) — infertile, barren (of land)

Definition

adjective
infertilebarren (of land)

Examples

  • 贫瘠，。
    Zhè piàn tǔ dì fēi cháng pín jí, zhǒng bù chū zhuāng jia.
    This land is very barren; crops can't grow.
  • 贫瘠。
    pín jí De tǔ rǎng xū yào shī féi cái néng zhòng shù.
    Barren soil needs fertilizer to grow trees.
  • 贫瘠，。
    Yóu yú tǔ dì pín jí, dāng dì nóng mín shēng huó hěn jiān nán.
    Because the land is infertile, local farmers live a hard life.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

贫pínpoor
瘠jílean

贫 (poor) and 瘠 (lean) both express lack of richness, meaning barren land.

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 貧; 贫 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèimoney
Sound part声符shēngfú
分
分fēn貧pín
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 貧 has 分 above 貝, a money part. 分 gives the sound and means 'divide', giving the image of dividing one's money; the simplified 贫 is a later shorthand.

Open 贫 →

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
疒疒nèillness
Sound part声符shēngfú
脊
脊jǐ瘠jí
Same sound today

瘠 combines 疒, showing illness, with 脊, which gives the sound.

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