hú
lac
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我喜欢在湖边散步。
wǒ xǐhuān zài húbiān sàn bù.
I like to take a walk by the lake.
湖水很清澈。
húshuǐ hěn qīngchè.
The lake water is very clear.
湖里有许多鱼。
hú lǐ yǒu xǔduō yú.
There are many fish in the lake.
潭 (tán)
pool
池 (chí)
pond
海 (hǎi)
sea
江 (jiāng)
river
The Chinese character 湖 (hú) for "lake" is composed of two parts: the radical 氵(shuǐ), which indicates water, and the phonetic component 胡 (hú). The radical 氵is common to many Chinese characters related to water, such as 江 (jiāng) for "river" and 海 (hǎi) for "sea". The phonetic component 胡 (hú) is a simplified form of the character 胡 (hú), which originally meant "barbarian" or "foreigner". The combination of the water radical and the phonetic component 胡 (hú) suggests that the character 湖 (hú) originally referred to a body of water associated with foreigners or barbarians. Over time, the meaning of 湖 (hú) evolved to refer to any lake, regardless of its location or association with foreigners.
