阪 (bǎn) — slope; hillside (literary or in place names)
Definition
A literary variant of 坡, used mainly in place names like 大阪 (Osaka). Not used in everyday speech — learners will see it almost exclusively in proper nouns.
noun
slopehillside (literary or in place names)
Examples
- 。Dà bǎn shì rì běn yí gè zhòng yào chéng shì.Osaka is an important city in Japan.
- 阪。Zhè zuò shān de shān bǎn hěn dǒu.The hillside of this mountain is very steep.
- ，阪。Zài gǔ dài, bǎn hé pō shì tóng yì cí.In ancient times, 阪 and the character for slope were synonyms.
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.
Meaning part形符xíngfú
阝Written in full as阜fùmound
Sound part声符shēngfú
反
反fǎn阪
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.
The left part 阝 represents a mound, and 反 supplies the sound; together they form 阪, meaning hill or slope.
Appears in
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