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加拿大 (Jiā ná dà) — Canada

Definition

noun
Canada

Examples

  • 加拿大。
    Jiā ná dà Shì yí gè měi lì de guó jiā.
    Canada is a beautiful country.
  • 加拿大。
    Wǒ míng nián xiǎng qù Jiā ná dà liú xué.
    I want to go study in Canada next year.
  • 加拿大。
    Jiā ná dà De dōng tiān hěn lěng.
    Canada's winter is very cold.

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.

加jiā
拿ná
大dà

加拿大 spells the foreign name for Canada; the characters 加, 拿, 大 carry no meaning of their own here.

Sound-only characters

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

加 pairs 力 and 口. In one explanation 力 is strength and 口 is the mouth, meaning exaggeration; in another 力 is plowing effort and 口 is breath or exclamation, meaning extra effort.

Open 加 →

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

The shape 拿 pairs 合 with 手, and it is a later alternative form for taking with the hand.

Open 拿 →

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →
Appears in
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