城区 (chéng qū) — urban area; city district | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

城区 is a city district — the urban part of a larger city, contrasted with 郊区 (suburbs). Narrower than 城市 ('city' as a whole); 市区 points more to the downtown core.

noun

urban areacity district

Measure word · 个

Examples

城区。
Zhè ge chéng qū yǒu hěn duō xīn de jiàn zhù.
This urban area has many new buildings.
城区，。
Tā zhù zài chéng qū, wǒ zhù zài jiāo qū.
He lives in the city district, and I live in the suburbs.
，城区？
Qǐng wèn, qù chéng qū zěn me zǒu?
Excuse me, how do I get to the city district?

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.

区qūdistrict

城区 pairs 城 (city) with 区 (district), so the city part limits the 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

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城 pairs 土 (soil) with 成 as a sound part, because city walls were originally made of stamped earth.

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.

匸匸xì
品品pǐn

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

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 5

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