俄克拉何马 (E kè lā hé mǎ) — Oklahoma

Definition

noun
Oklahoma

Examples

  • 俄克拉何马。
    Wǒ qù nián qù le E kè lā hé mǎ.
    I went to Oklahoma last year.
  • 俄克拉何马。
    E kè lā hé mǎ Zài měi guó de zhōng jiān.
    Oklahoma is in the middle of the US.
  • 俄克拉何马。
    E kè lā hé mǎ Yǒu hěn duō nóng chǎng.
    Oklahoma has many farms.

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.

俄é
克kè
拉lā
何hé
马mǎ

The characters 俄克拉何马 carry no meaning of their own here; they spell the foreign name Oklahoma.

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
我
我wǒ俄é
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

俄 pairs 亻 (person) with 我, which gives the sound.

Open 俄 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 克 →

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
手手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
立
立lì拉lā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

拉 pairs 手 (hand) with 立, a component that supplies the sound.

Open 拉 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The old form of 何 drew a person carrying something on their shoulder. If the carried thing was a 戈, the 人 and 戈 parts together showed that picture.

Open 何 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 馬; 马 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 馬 shows a horse with its head facing left, a flowing mane, and two legs standing vertically.

Open 马 →

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