塞内加尔 (Sài nèi jiā ěr) — Senegal

Definition

noun
Senegal

Examples

  • 塞内加尔,。
    Wǒ cóng lái méi yǒu qù guò Sài nèi jiā ěr, dàn shì hěn xiǎng qù kàn kàn.
    I've never been to Senegal, but I really want to go and see it.
  • 塞内加尔。
    Sài nèi jiā ěr Shì yí gè měi lì de xī fēi guó jiā.
    Senegal is a beautiful West African country.
  • 塞内加尔。
    Wǒ xiǎng liǎo jiě gèng duō guān yú Sài nèi jiā ěr de wén huà.
    I want to learn more about Senegalese culture.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
音译yīnyìTransliteration

The characters spell the sound of a foreign word; their individual meanings play no part.

塞内加尔 spells Senegal; its characters carry no meaning of their own.

Sound-only characters

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

  • 宀宀miánhouse
  • 工工gōngtwo items
  • 廾廾gǒngtwo hands

塞 combines 宀 (house), 工 (two items), and 廾 (two hands), showing hands stuffing items into a house.

Open 塞 →

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

  • 入入rùto enter
  • 冂冂jiōnghouse

The shape shows 入 entering into 冂, a house, so it pictures bringing something indoors, giving the sense inside.

Open 内 →

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

加 pairs 力 and 口. In one explanation 力 is strength and 口 is the mouth, meaning exaggeration; in another 力 is plowing effort and 口 is breath or exclamation, meaning extra effort.

Open 加 →

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

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 爾; 尔 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 爾, simplified as 尔, originally drew cloth on a loom with crossing threads. It was borrowed for its sound to write “you,” so the picture is unrelated to that meaning.

Open 尔 →

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