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山

san

The lump of earth you climb, descend, and dig into

The picture Flat ground swelling up into one mass you have to climb up and back down. 山 is ground that rises and has to be climbed; 地 is ground that simply lies underfoot.

Characters

Where the picture shows up in 山

  1. climbing what rises

    주말에 등산 가요.

    ju-ma-re deung-san ga-yo

    We're going hiking this weekend.

    Someone with a pack stepping up a sloping dirt path one foot at a time

  2. coming back down

    어두워지기 전에 하산하세요.

    eo-du-wo-ji-gi jeo-ne ha-san-ha-se-yo

    Come down off the mountain before dark.

    Picking a careful way back down the slope before the sun drops behind the peak

  3. the mountain that throws fire

    저 섬에는 화산이 있어요.

    jeo seo-me-neun hwa-sa-ni i-sseo-yo

    There's a volcano on that island.

    A peak open at the top with white smoke rising straight into the sky

  4. the track cut along it

    산길은 비 오면 미끄러워요.

    san-gi-reun bi o-myeon mi-kkeu-reo-wo-yo

    The mountain path gets slippery when it rains.

    A narrow dirt track with wet stones and tree roots showing, running along the slope

  5. the tunnel dug into it

    할아버지는 광산에서 일하셨어요.

    ha-ra-beo-ji-neun gwang-sa-ne-seo il-ha-syeo-sseo-yo

    My grandfather worked in a mine.

    A cart rolling into a black tunnel bored into the side of a mountain

All of it in one picture

山 is one mass of raised ground. Walk up it and that is hiking; walk back down and that is descending. When the mass throws fire out of itself, it is a volcano; the narrow track cut along it is a mountain path. Dig into the mass for ore and it becomes a mine.

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