伊兹密尔 (yī zī mì ěr) — Izmir (city in Turkey)

Definition

noun
Izmir (city in Turkey)

Examples

  • 伊兹密尔。
    yī zī mì ěr Shì tǔ ěr qí de yí gè dà chéng shì.
    Izmir is a large city in Turkey.
  • 伊兹密尔？
    Nǐ qù guò yī zī mì ěr ma?
    Have you been to Izmir?
  • 伊兹密尔。
    Wǒ yǒu yí wèi tóng shì lái zì yī zī mì ěr.
    I have a colleague who comes from Izmir.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
音译yīnyìTransliteration

The characters spell the sound of a foreign word; their individual meanings play no part.

伊yī
兹zī
密mì
尔ěr

The characters 伊兹密尔 carry no meaning of their own here; the word spells Izmir.

Sound-only characters

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
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
尹
尹yǐn伊yī
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left part 亻 shows a person. The right part 尹 is used for the sound.

Open 伊 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 兹 →

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
山山shānmountain
Sound part声符shēngfú
宓
宓mì密mì
Same sound today

密 pairs 山 (mountain) with 宓 (mì), which gives the pronunciation, to picture something hidden in the mountains, hence secret.

Open 密 →

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

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 爾; 尔 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 爾, simplified as 尔, originally drew cloth on a loom with crossing threads. It was borrowed for its sound to write “you,” so the picture is unrelated to that meaning.

Open 尔 →

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