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发达 (fā dá) — (adjective) developed, flourishing, prosperous; (verb) to prosper, to develop, to expand

Definition

An adjective describing something that has reached a high level of growth — countries, cities, economies, even body parts (like 肌肉发达 'muscular'). For the process of growing, use 发展 (verb).

adjective
developedflourishingprosperous
verb
to prosperto developto expand

Examples

  • 发达。
    Zhè jiā gōng sī hěn fā dá.
    This company is very developed.
  • 发达。
    Zhè ge chéng shì de jiāo tōng hěn fā dá.
    This city's transportation is very developed.
  • 发达。
    Tā de shì yè yuè lái yuè fā dá.
    His career is becoming more and more prosperous.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

发fāgrow; expand
达dáreach; attain

Both parts suggest growing, reaching, or attaining, so together it describes something flourishing or well developed.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 發; 发 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 发 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (爆发, 出发) it is 發; in others (理发, 头发) it is 髮.

The form 發, which 发 stands for in many words, was originally drawn as a bow firing an arrow.

Open 发 →

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
辶Written in full as辵chuò
Sound part声符shēngfú
大
大dà达dá
Same sound today

This form 达 pairs 辶 (written in full as 辵) with 大 as a sound component.

Open 达 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5HSK 2.0 Level 5Economy & Trade

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