Karakum Desert
- proper noun
:
desierto de Karakum
- The Karakum Desert covers more than 70 percent of Turkmenistan's territory.
Examples
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Travelers often marvel at the vast stretches of sand in the Karakum Desert.
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Despite its harsh conditions, the Karakum Desert is home to several unique plant and animal species.
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The Karakum Desert is known for its vast sand dunes.
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Have you ever visited the Karakum Desert?
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Despite its harsh conditions, the Karakum Desert is home to several unique plant and animal species.
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The Karakum Desert covers more than 70 percent of Turkmenistan's territory.
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Travelers often marvel at the vast stretches of sand in the Karakum Desert.
Synonyms
A desert in Turkmenistan south of the Aral Sea with dry sand and few plants
A large desert in Turkmenistan south of the Aral Sea
A dry area in Turkmenistan south of the Aral Sea with large areas of sand and few plants
Surface Forms
Morphology
Karakum + desert
The compound is a place-name + noun combination: once a learner recognises 'desert' (a vast dry region) and that 'Karakum' is a proper name, the meaning—a desert called Karakum—is directly inferred. Proper names often carry no independent lexical meaning, but the overall referent is compositionally transparent and predictable from the parts.
Etymology
Karakum Desert comes from two Turkmen words, Kara meaning 'black' and Kum meaning 'sand'. The picture of 'black sand' became the name for the dry area, so today Karakum Desert refers to the large desert region in Turkmenistan.
