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边疆 (biān jiāng) — border region, frontier (a large area near a country's border, often remote and strategically important)

Definition

边疆 is a national-scale frontier — a large border region seen as remote and strategically important. 边境 is the border area itself (a line or zone), 边缘 is a general 'edge/margin' (concrete or abstract).

noun
border regionfrontier (a large area near a country's border, often remote and strategically important)
Measure word · 片

Examples

  • 边疆。
    Tā dà xué bì yè hòu zhǔ dòng shēn qǐng qù biān jiāng gōng zuò.
    After graduating from college, he voluntarily applied to work in the border region.
  • 边疆。
    biān jiāng De wěn dìng duì guó jiā fā zhǎn fēi cháng zhòng yào.
    The stability of the frontier is very important for national development.
  • 边疆。
    Lì dài shī rén xiě le xǔ duō zàn měi biān jiāng de shī gē.
    Poets through the ages have written many poems praising the borderlands.

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.

边biānborder
疆jiāngterritory

边 specifies the outer part, and 疆 denotes territory; together they name a remote border region.

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 邊; 边 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
辶Written in full as辵chuòwalking; movement
Sound part声符shēngfú
臱
臱mián邊biān(r)
Same sound today

The traditional form 邊 pairs 辶 (walking; movement) with the sound part 臱; the simplified 边 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original parts.

Open 边 →

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
土土tǔearth
Sound part声符shēngfú
彊
彊qiáng疆jiāng
Same sound today

疆 pairs 土 (earth) with 彊, which gives the sound. The earth part points to land, as in a border.

Open 疆 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6

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