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乔治城 (Qiáo zhì chéng) — Georgetown (city or neighborhood name, e.g., in Washington, D.C.)

Definition

noun
Georgetown (city or neighborhood name, e.g., in Washington, D.C.)

Examples

  • 乔治城。
    Wǒ dǎ suàn míng nián qù Qiáo zhì chéng liú xué.
    I plan to study abroad at Georgetown next year.
  • 乔治城。
    Qiáo zhì chéng Shì měi guó shǒu dū huá shèng dùn de yí gè zhù míng jiē qū.
    Georgetown is a famous neighborhood in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States.
  • 乔治城。
    Zhè suǒ dà xué zài Qiáo zhì chéng yǒu hěn yōu jiǔ de lì shǐ.
    This university has a very long history in Georgetown.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

乔治George
乔qiáo治zhì
音译Transliteration
城chéngcity

“乔治” spells George and “城” means city, together Georgetown.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 喬; 乔 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 喬 was built by adding a distinguishing mark to an older character for 'tall'; the simplified 乔 is just a later shorthand.

Open 乔 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
台
台tái治zhì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

治 has 水 (water) and 台; 台 gives the sound, and the character named a river.

Open 治 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
土土tǔsoil
Sound part声符shēngfú
成
成chéng城chéng
Same sound today

城 pairs 土 (soil) with 成 as a sound part, because city walls were originally made of stamped earth.

Open 城 →
Appears in
City & Urban

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