Language/Mandarin-chinese/Vocabulary/土-tŭ-earth

土 tŭ earth in Mandarin Chinese

Definition

The character 土 is a pictograph, with the top horizontal line representing the surface of the earth and the bottom horizontal line representing the substratum. The vertical line represents the products that the earth produces. Notice that the top horizontal line of 土 is shorter than the bottom line. 土 is itself a common radical. The colloquial name for 土 when written at the side of a character as a radical is 土字旁 tŭzìpáng “side made up of the character 土.” The radical 土 appears, for example, in 地 dì and 城 chéng. Distinguish 土 from 十 shí, 工 gōng, 上 shàng, 王 wáng, and 生 shēng.

Examples

土司 tŭsī white bread [N]

土地 tŭdì soil, earth, land, territory [N]

Sources

Book: Intermediate Written Chinese by Cornelius C. Kubler

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