不来梅 (Bù lái méi) — Bremen (city in Germany)

Definition

noun

Bremen (city in Germany)

不来梅。
Míng nián wǒ yào qù Bù lái méi lǚ yóu.
I'm going to travel to Bremen next year.
不来梅。
Bù lái méi Shì dé guó běi bù de zhòng yào chéng shì.
Bremen is an important city in northern Germany.
不来梅？
Nǐ zhī dào Bù lái méi de shì zhèng tīng guǎng chǎng ma?
Do you know about the market square in Bremen?

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 來; 来 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 來 shows a wheat plant: a central ear, upward leaves, and downward stem and roots. The simplified 来 is a later shorthand.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

木每梅

Meaning part形符xíngfú

木木mùtree

Sound part声符shēngfú

每

Same sound today

梅 is built from 木 (tree) and 每, which gives the sound; it is used for the plum tree.