峡湾

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 峡湾 is a noun read きょうわん, meaning a fjord: a deep, narrow inlet formed through glacial erosion.
• Basic usage: Use it when describing the steep sides of the landform or the process by which a glacier shapes it.
  • 深い峡湾の両側に急な崖がそびえています。 describes steep cliffs rising on both sides of a deep fjord; 地理の授業で氷河が峡湾を形作る過程を学びました。 describes learning in geography class how glaciers form fjords.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• 峡湾の両側に
  • の identifies the two sides as belonging to the fjord, and に marks where the cliffs rise.
• 峡湾を形作る
  • を marks the landform shaped by glacial action.
• 峡湾 and 湾
  • 湾 broadly refers to a bay or inlet, while 峡湾 specifically identifies the deep, narrow glacial landform.