About
The Chinese word "海岸线" (hǎi'ànxiàn), meaning "coastline," is a compound noun formed through semantic combination, where each character contributes a specific meaning: "海" (hǎi) means "sea," "岸" (àn) means "shore" or "bank," and "线" (xiàn) means "line." These three morphemes are concatenated in a logical, descriptive sequence—first the general feature (sea), then the specific landform (shore), and finally the abstract geometric concept (line)—to precisely define the boundary where land meets the ocean. This structure exemplifies a common method in Chinese word formation where tangible nouns are combined to create a new, more specific term.