仙

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immortal

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Formation & memory

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Phono-semantic compound (形声字)

亻 meaning “person” + 山 sound ( shān )

Components 亻山

immortal · Heisig RSH #2092

人 person + 山 mountain

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
水仙花	shuǐ xiān huā	daffodil; narcissus
黄大仙	huáng dà xiān	see 黃鼬\|黄鼬[huang2 you4]
仙方儿	xiān fāng r	erhua variant of 仙方[xian1 fang1]
仙女座大星云	Xiān nǚ zuò dà xīng yún	great nebula in Andromeda or Andromeda galaxy M31
仙人球	xiān rén qiú	ball cactus
小仙女	xiǎo xiān nǚ	girl fairy; beautiful girl or young woman; (neologism) (slang) irrational and egocentric y…
饭后一支烟，赛过活神仙	fàn hòu yī zhī yān , sài guò huó shén xiān	have a smoke after each meal and you will surpass the immortals (proverb)
仙女星系	Xiān nǚ xīng xì	Andromeda galaxy M31
仙女座星系	Xiān nǚ zuò xīng xì	Andromeda galaxy M31
仙游县	Xiān yóu Xiàn	Xianyou, a county in Putian City 莆田市[Pu2 tian2 Shi4], Fujian
游仙区	Yóu xiān Qū	Youxian, a district of Mianyang City 綿陽市\|绵阳市[Mian2 yang2 Shi4], Sichuan
卡仙尼	Kǎ xiān ní	Cassini space probe
仙女星座	Xiān nǚ xīng zuò	Andromeda constellation (galaxy) M31
仙子	xiān zǐ	fairy
仙人	xiān rén	Daoist immortal; celestial being
大仙	dà xiān	great immortal
活神仙	huó shén xiān	a god living in our midst (sb who can predict the future like a prophet or who leads a lif…
仙山	xiān shān	mountain of Immortals
水仙	shuǐ xiān	daffodil; narcissus
天仙	tiān xiān	immortal (esp. female); deity; fairy; Goddess; fig. beautiful woman

Characters sharing the sound component 山 — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
山 sound part	shān	mountain, hill, peak
炭	tàn	carbon, charcoal, coal
灿	càn	vivid, illuminating, brilliant
汕	shàn	bamboo; basket for catching fish; Shantou
讪	shàn	to abuse, to slander, to vilify; to ridicule
籼	xiān	non-glutinous long-grain rice
舢	shān	sampan, wooden boat
赸	shàn	to jump; to leave
疝	shàn	hernia; to rupture
氙	xiān	xenon