涧 (jiàn): a mountain stream; a ravine wit…

Meanings

1 a mountain stream; a ravine with a brook running through it

Characters

涧

jiàn

mountain stream; ravine

Examples

泉水从两山间的山涧里流下来。

Quánshuǐ cóng liǎng shān jiān de shān jiàn lǐ liú xiàlái.

Spring water flowed down a stream between the two hills.

王维的《鸟鸣涧》描写了幽静的春山溪流。

Wángwéi de 《 Niǎo míng jiàn 》 miáoxiě le yōujìng de chūn shān xīliú.

Wang Wei's poem 'Birds Sing in the Ravine' depicts a quiet spring mountain stream.

Tips

culture

A 涧 is a brook running through a gully between hills, a favourite image in classical poetry. The Hangzhou scenic spot 九溪十八涧 ('Nine Creeks and Eighteen Ravines') takes its name from this word.

Components

radical

氵 shuǐ

water

The three-drop water radical, the left-side form of 水. It marks 涧 as a body of flowing water, here a mountain stream.

phonetic

间 jiān

between; gap; among

Supplies the sound and also fits the meaning: standalone 间 is jiān, close to jiàn, and its 'between' sense matches a stream running between two hills.