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

HSK 7-9

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.

HSK 7-9

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

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.