嵩

sōng
adjective

Meanings

  1. 1 (of mountains) lofty; towering high
  2. 2 Mount Song (in Henan)

Examples

HSK 7-9
Sōngshān shì Zhōngguó wǔyuè zhīyī.
Mount Song is one of China's Five Great Mountains.
HSK 7-9
群峰嵩峻,高插云霄。
Qúnfēng sōng jùn, gāo chā yúnxiāo.
The peaks were lofty and majestic, piercing the clouds.

Tips

culture
The base sense is 'high mountain', from which it became the name 嵩山 - the central peak of the Five Great Mountains, home of the Shaolin Temple. The same reading and tone is used whether it means 'lofty' generally or the specific mountain; capitalization only marks the proper-noun use.

Components

radical
山 shān
mountain
The mountain radical 山 caps the top - a literal picture of peaks. It plants the meaning firmly in 'mountain', here a very tall one.
semantic
高 gāo
tall; high
Standalone 高 means 'high'. Stacked under the mountain it doubles the meaning - mountain plus height equals 'a lofty, towering peak' - while also nudging the sound.

Stroke Order

嵩 sōng