南街 (nán jiē) — South Street (street name) | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

South Street (street name)

Examples

南街。
nán jiē Shì zhè tiáo jiē zuì rè nao de dì fāng.
South Street is the liveliest part of this street.
南街。
Cóng nán jiē wǎng nán zǒu wǔ fēn zhōng jiù dào xué xiào le.
Walk south from South Street for five minutes and you'll reach the school.
南街。
Wǒ men yuē zài nán jiē lù kǒu jiàn miàn ba.
Let's meet at the intersection of South Street.

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.

南 gives the direction, and 街 is the street.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

圭

圭guī街jiē

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

街 combines 行 and 圭: 行 is the meaning part, and 圭 is the sound part. Originally, 圭 drew a pair of ritual axes, not earth.

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