城东 (chéng dōng) — Chengdong (a place name referring to the eastern part of a city or a district)

Definition

城东 means 'the east side / eastern district of a city' — literally 'city + east'. It's a directional place name, often a specific district (Chengdong).

noun
Chengdong (a place name referring to the eastern part of a city or a district)

Examples

  • 城东。
    Wǒ jiā zhù zài chéng dōng.
    My home is in Chengdong.
  • 城东。
    Míng tiān qù chéng dōng de gōng yuán wán ba.
    Let's go to the park in Chengdong tomorrow.
  • 城东。
    chéng dōng Yǒu yì jiā bú cuò de cān tīng.
    There is a decent restaurant in Chengdong.

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.

城chéngcity
东dōngeast

城 names the city and 东 names the eastern side, together referring to the east part of a city.

Characters in this word

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
土土tǔsoil
Sound part声符shēngfú
成
成chéng城chéng
Same sound today

城 pairs 土 (soil) with 成 as a sound part, because city walls were originally made of stamped earth.

Open 城 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 東; 东 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 東 originally drew a full bag tied at both ends. The simplified 东 is a later shorthand, not the historical shape.

Open 东 →

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