嵩 (sōng) · (of mountains) lofty; towering high

Meanings

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

Characters

嵩

sōng

lofty mountain; Mt Song

Examples

HSK 7-9

嵩山是中国五岳之一。

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.