Definitions

gěng strip of high ground; low earth dyke separating fields

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Semantic: Phonetic:

About

is a phono-semantic compound combining the semantic radical (tǔ, "earth, soil") with the phonetic component (gēng). It denotes a low earthen bank, a raised path between farm fields, or a small agricultural dike used to manage water flow and mark boundaries in rice paddies and crop fields. The character's structure directly reflects this agricultural meaning, and its core sense of an earthen ridge has remained stable without generating extensive figurative extensions.

Etymology Hide

Seal etymology image
Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)
Traditional Modern
Simplified Modern