Maps and the stem word

Announcement From Dr. Mah:

More on Maps (地图dì tú) and the stem word 地dì

- Dr. Adeline Yen Mah

Please note that 地 is a stem word which means land. The character following 地 will determine the meaning of the two words (compound word) placed together. In this case, 图 means picture or drawing or chart. Thus 地图 means land drawing or MAP. There are more than two dozen compound words with 地 as the stem word. Some examples are 地 球 dì qiǔ (land ball = earth), 地 理 dì lǐ (land logic = geography), 地雷 dì léi (land thunder = land mine), 地震 dì zhèn（land shaking = earth-quake）， 地下 dì xià（land below = underground）， 地 铁 dì tiě (land iron = underground railroad).