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大都会 (dà dū huì) — metropolis

Definition

noun
metropolis
Measure word · 座

Examples

  • 大都会。
    Niǔ yuē shì yí gè guó jì huà de dà dū huì.
    New York is an international metropolis.
  • 大都会。
    Shàng hǎi shì yà zhōu zhù míng de dà dū huì.
    Shanghai is a famous metropolis in Asia.
  • 大都会。
    dà dū huì De yè wǎn zǒng shì hěn rè nao.
    The nights in a metropolis are always lively.

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.

大dàbig
都会metropolis
都dōucapital会huìcenter
联合Coordinate

大 means big and 都会 means a great city, together giving metropolis.

Characters in this word

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

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
邑邑yìtown, city
Sound part声符shēngfú
者
者zhě都dōu
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

都 is built from 者, which supplies the sound, and 邑, meaning town or city.

Open 都 →

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 會; 会 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
合合héto meet
Sound part声符shēngfú
𡆧
𡆧𡆧會huì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

Traditional 會 pairs 合 (to meet) with 𡆧, an original form for ironware, to give the sound. The simplified 会 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original parts.

Open 会 →
Appears in
City & Urban

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