阴沟 (yīn gōu) — sewer; covered drain | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

sewercovered drain

Measure word · 条

Examples

阴沟。
Tā bù xiǎo xīn diào jìn le yīn gōu lǐ.
He accidentally fell into a sewer.
阴沟。
Gōng rén zhèng zài qīng lǐ yīn gōu lǐ de lā jī.
Workers are cleaning the garbage in the sewer.
，阴沟。
Dà yǔ zhī hòu, yīn gōu lǐ de shuǐ dōu mǎn le.
After the heavy rain, the water in the sewer is full.

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.

阴yīndark

沟gōuditch

阴 'dark' and 沟 'ditch' together describe a covered, damp drain.

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 陰; 阴 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

阜阜fù

Sound part声符shēngfú

侌

侌yīn陰yīn

Same sound today

The traditional form 陰 combines 阜, the meaning part, with 侌, the sound part. The simplified 阴 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the historical pieces.

Open 阴 →

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 溝; 沟 is its simplified writing.

氵冓溝

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

冓

冓gòu溝gōu

Same sound today

The traditional form 溝 pairs 氵 (water) with 冓 for the sound; the simplified 沟 is a later shorthand, so its right side is not the historical part.

Open 沟 →