南美洲 (nán měi zhōu) — South America | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

South America, the southern continent. Pairs with 北美洲 (North America) to form the two Americas.

noun

South America

Examples

南美洲。
nán měi zhōu Yǒu shí èr gè guó jiā.
South America has twelve countries.
南美洲。
nán měi zhōu De yà mǎ xùn yǔ lín hěn dà.
The Amazon rainforest in South America is very large.
南美洲。
nán měi zhōu De zú qiú wén huà hěn nóng.
The football culture in South America is very strong.

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.

美洲America

美měiAmerica洲zhōucontinent

偏正Modifier + head

南美洲 places 南 'south' with 美 'America' and 洲 'continent' to name South America.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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

羊羊yángram or feathers
大大dàperson

美 shows 大, a person, wearing 羊, a headdress of feathers or ram's horn.

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

州

州zhōu洲zhōu

Same sound today

洲 is built from 水 (water) and 州, which gives the sound.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 6 Geography & Landforms

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