勘 (kān): to investigate

Meanings

1 to investigate
2 to survey
3 to collate (texts)
4 to examine

Characters

勘

kān

to investigate; to survey; to collate

Examples

地质学家前往现场勘测地形。

Dìzhìxuéjiā qiánwǎng xiànchǎng kāncè dìxíng.

The geologist went to the site to survey the terrain.

这部古籍经过仔细校勘，恢复了原貌。

Zhèbù gǔjí jīngguò zǐxì jiào kān, huīfù le yuánmào.

This ancient text was carefully collated and restored to its original form.

Tips

usage

勘 appears in several common compounds: 勘察/勘测 (to survey terrain), 勘探 (to prospect/explore for resources), 校勘 (to collate ancient texts). The core meaning is careful on-site examination.

Components

radical

力 lì

strength; force

Right strength radical — pictograph of a flexed muscular arm or a plough. The indexing radical, marking 勘 as an action requiring effort: to investigate, survey, proofread — all tasks demanding focused exertion. Same radical groups 勘 with 助 (assist), 努 (strive), 劳 (labour), 加 (add). Effort applied gives the original meaning 'to scrutinize carefully'.

phonetic

甚 shèn

very; extreme (here phonetic)

Left 甚 supplies the sound — shèn shifting to kān through historical sh/k alternation in this family. 甚 itself originally pictured a kitchen stove with the spoon, source of 'extreme degree, intense'. Same phonetic appears in 堪 (bear, endure), 戡 (subdue), 谌 (sincere) — all in the kān/shèn family.