凄凉
qī liáng · HSK 7
desolate (place)
🏜️ 凄凉 = both chars carry the 冫 ice radical: doubled cold = bleak, desolate
凄 (qī, bleak) pairs 冫 ice with 妻 wife for sound; 凉 (liáng, cool) pairs 冫 ice with 京 capital for sound. Two ice-radical chars stacked spell a chilly, deserted bleakness.
凉 — ice radical 冫 + 京 (capital)
A semantic-phonetic compound: 冫 (ice) gives the meaning 'cool/cold,' while 京 supplies the sound. Originally written 涼 with the water radical 氵, suggesting cool water; the simplified form 凉 swaps in 冫 to emphasize coldness. The meaning extended from 'cool' to 'chilly' and figuratively 'desolate.'