巷 (xiàng) · lane, alley

Measure Word

一条巷 tiáo

Meanings

1 lane
2 alley

Characters

巷

xiàng

lane; alley

Examples

HSK 3

这条小巷很安静。

Zhè tiáo xiǎoxiàng hěn ānjìng.

This little alley is very quiet.

HSK 7-9

走到巷子尽头就能看到那家店。

Zǒu dào xiàngzi jìntóu jiù néng kàndào nà jiā diàn.

Walk to the end of the alley and you'll see the shop.

Tips

usage

In daily speech, 巷子 (xiàngzi) is more common than 巷 alone. 街巷 (jiēxiàng) means "streets and alleys." In southern China, 弄 (lòng) is sometimes used instead.

Components

radical

巳 sì

sixth earthly branch; foetus shape

Bottom 巳 - originally the shape of a kneeling figure or coiled snake. Here it stands in for an older bottom element representing 'a person walking,' a graphic substitution that happened in the simplification. The radical anchor gives 巷 its dictionary index, even though the phonetic role no longer maps cleanly.

semantic

共 gòng

together; shared

Top 共 - two hands lifting an object together, 'shared, communal.' Carries the meaning here: an alley is shared public space between dwellings, walked by everyone in the neighborhood. Combined with 巳 below, the picture is 'common ground for foot-traffic between homes.'