壤 (rǎng): soil; earth

Meanings

庄稼在肥沃的土壤里长得好。

Zhuāngjia zài féiwò de tǔrǎng lǐ zhǎng de hǎo.

Crops grow well in fertile soil.

他们的观点有天壤之别。

Tāmen de guāndiǎn yǒu tiānrǎngzhībié.

Their views are as far apart as heaven and earth.

usage

壤 is loose, cultivable earth. The everyday word is 土壤 (soil). It also means 'the earth' opposite heaven in 天壤之别 (a world of difference).

radical

土 tǔ

earth; soil

The earth radical 土 on the left pins down the meaning directly: 壤 is a kind of soil.

phonetic

襄 xiāng

to assist (old)

襄 is the large right element supplying the sound (drifted from xiāng to rǎng); it adds no meaning here and works as the phonetic part.

壤 rǎng