(shān) - mountain, hill in Mandarin
shānTraditional: 山
Translation
mountain, hill
Word origin
A pictograph of three peaks rising from a base line, one of the oldest characters still in daily use.
- Origin
- native
- Root
- 山 (shān), a picture of three mountain peaks
Stroke order
山
Examples
。
We are going hill walking tomorrow.
。
That mountain is very high.
。
There are a lot of trees on the mountain.
。
The sun came out from behind the mountain.
村。
He lives in a small village at the foot of the mountain.
山 covers both mountain and hill; Chinese does not make the English size distinction, so a modest hill behind a village and a Himalayan peak are both 山. If you need to be specific, 小山 is a hill and 高山 is a high mountain.
The measure word is 座, the one used for large immovable structures, so it is 一座山, the same classifier you use for buildings and bridges. 爬山 is the standard way to say go hiking or climbing, and it is a very ordinary weekend activity rather than an expedition.
Positions work off 山 with a locative suffix: 山上 up the mountain, 山下 at the foot, 山里 in the hills, 山后 behind it. As a component 山 appears inside many characters connected with terrain, and it is the semantic radical in 岛 (island) and 岩 (rock).
Where this fits
Used in
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山: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "山" (mountain, hill): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
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Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 43.