采煤 (cǎi méi) — to mine coal; coal mining

Definition

Coal-mining as an industry or activity (verb/noun). Use as a process term; the people who do it are 矿工.

verb

to mine coalcoal mining

采煤。
Zhè ge méi kuàng měi nián cǎi méi yì bǎi wàn dūn.
This coal mine mines one million tons every year.
。
Tā zài zhè jiā méi kuàng cǎi le shí nián méi.
He mined coal at this coal mine for ten years.
采煤。
cǎi méi Shì yí xiàng wēi xiǎn de gōng zuò.
Coal mining is a dangerous job.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

采 means to pick or extract and 煤 means coal, so the word names mining coal.

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 採; 采 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 采 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (采访, 采购) it is 採; in others it is 采.

扌采採

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒuhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

采

Same sound today

The traditional form 採 combines 扌 (hand) with 采, which gives the sound and means to pick.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

火某煤

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

某

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

煤 puts 火 (fire) on the left and 某 on the right; the fire part relates to coal, and 某 gives the sound.