江

jiāng

工 + 氵

HSK 3.0Level 4

Definitions

jiāng (noun) river

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 工 represents the sound.

Semantic: 氵 Phonetic: 工

About

江 is a phono-semantic compound, combining the water radical 氵 on the left, indicating its connection to water, with the phonetic component 工 on the right. Originally, the character served as the proper name for the Yangtze River in historical texts. Its meaning later broadened to refer to any large river, though it often still specifically denotes the Yangtze in certain geographic names and historical contexts.

Etymology Hide

Bronze Mid Warring States (~300 BC)

Seal Chu (Warring States: 475-221 BC)

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)

Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

这条江很宽。

Zhè tiáo jiāng hěn kuān.

This river is very wide.

江水清澈见底。

Jiāng shuǐ qīng chè jiàn dǐ.

The river water is so clear you can see the bottom.

我们在江边散步。

Wǒmen zài jiāng biān sànbù.

We are walking by the river.

春天时，江面很平静。

Chūntiān shí, jiāng miàn hěn píngjìng.

In spring, the river surface is very calm.

长江流过许多城市。

Cháng Jiāng liúguò xǔduō chéngshì.

The Yangtze River flows through many cities.

这条江比那条江更深。

Zhè tiáo jiāng bǐ nà tiáo jiāng gèng shēn.

This river is deeper than that river.

为了保护江水，我们不要污染它。

Wèile bǎohù jiāng shuǐ, wǒmen bùyào wūrǎn tā.

In order to protect the river water, we should not pollute it.

由于连续降雨，江水迅速上涨。

Yóuyú liánxù jiàngyǔ, jiāng shuǐ xùnsù shàngzhǎng.

Due to continuous rainfall, the river water is rising rapidly.

Related Characters

Composed characters:

Component: 工

Component: 氵

江