城北区 (chéng běi ōu) — Chengbei District (a district of Xining City, Q…

Definition

noun

Chengbei District (a district of Xining City, Qinghai)

城北区。
Wǒ zhù zài chéng běi ōu.
I live in Chengbei District.
城北区。
chéng běi ōu Shì xī níng de yí gè qū.
Chengbei District is a district of Xining.
城北区。
Xià zhōu wǒ yào qù chéng běi ōu chū chāi.
Next week I'm going to Chengbei District for a business trip.

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.

城北north of the city

偏正Modifier + head

区qūdistrict

城北 refers to the north of the city, and 区 indicates the administrative district.

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.

土成城

Meaning part形符xíngfú

土土tǔsoil

Sound part声符shēngfú

成

Same sound today

城 pairs 土 (soil) with 成 as a sound part, because city walls were originally made of stamped earth.

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

The form 北 shows two people standing back to back. It originally meant 'back'.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 區; 区 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 區 is made from 匸 and 品; the simplified 区 is a shorthand.