象形

xiàngxíng

noun #44,966

Meanings

1 pictograph, the first of the six ways Chinese characters were formed
2 pictographic

Characters

to resemble; image

Examples

HSK 5

象形是六书中最古老的造字方法之一。

Xiàngxíng shì liùshū zhōng zuì gǔlǎo de zàozì fāngfǎ zhīyī.

Pictography is one of the oldest of the Six Writings, the ways characters were formed.

HSK 6

“山”字很象形，一看就像三座山峰。

" Shān " zì hěn xiàngxíng, yí kàn jiù xiàng sān zuò shānfēng.

The character 山 is very pictographic: at a glance it looks like three peaks.

Tips

usage

Everyday use is mostly in 象形文字 "pictographic script" and 象形字 "pictograph", a character that draws its object, like 日 sun or 木 tree. Only a small share of modern characters are pictographs; most are phono-semantic compounds, 形声字.

Stroke Order

象 xiàng

形 xíng