北冰洋 (Běi bīng yáng) — Arctic Ocean

Definition

noun
Arctic Ocean

Examples

  • 北冰洋。
    Běi bīng yáng Shì shì jiè shàng zuì lěng de hǎi yáng zhī yī.
    The Arctic Ocean is one of the coldest oceans in the world.
  • 北冰洋。
    Kē xué jiā zhèng zài yán jiū Běi bīng yáng de bīng céng biàn huà.
    Scientists are studying the ice changes in the Arctic Ocean.
  • 北冰洋。
    Běi jí xióng shēng huó zài Běi bīng yáng de bīng xuě shì jiè lǐ.
    Polar bears live in the icy world of the Arctic Ocean.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

The form 北 shows two people standing back to back. It originally meant 'back'.

Open 北 →

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shuǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
冫
仌bīng冰bīng
Same sound today

冰 adds 水 (water) to 冫, the short form of 仌; 冫 gives the sound, and 水 shows the meaning.

Open 冰 →

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
羊
羊yáng洋yáng
Same sound today

洋 pairs 氵, the water part, with 羊 to give its sound.

Open 洋 →

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