吕宋岛 (lǚ sòng dǎo) — Luzon (largest island in the Philippines)

Definition

noun

Luzon (largest island in the Philippines)

吕宋岛。
lǚ sòng dǎo Shì fēi lǜ bīn zuì dà de dǎo yǔ.
Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines.
吕宋岛。
Fēi lǜ bīn de shǒu dū mǎ ní lā jiù zài lǚ sòng dǎo shàng.
The capital of the Philippines, Manila, is on Luzon.
吕宋岛。
lǚ sòng dǎo Běi bù yǒu hěn duō měi lì de shā tān.
There are many beautiful beaches in northern Luzon.

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.

吕宋Luzon

音译Transliteration

“吕宋” gives the Luzon name and “岛” marks it as an island.

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 呂; 吕 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 呂 was drawn as two separate blocks of metal, later joined by a line; this story is about 呂, not the current 吕.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 島; 岛 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

山山shānmountain

Sound part声符shēngfú

鳥

鳥niǎo島dǎo

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

The traditional form 島 uses 山, meaning mountain, and 鳥 for the sound. The simplified 岛 is a later shorthand.