大韩 (dà hán) — (proper noun) Korea (used in formal compound names)

Definition

Literary / formal name for Korea, used mostly in fixed compound names like 大韩民国 ('Republic of Korea') and 大韩航空 ('Korean Air'). It does not stand alone as a common word for the country — modern usage prefers 韩国.

noun
(proper noun) Korea (used in formal compound names)

Examples

  • 大韩。
    dà hán Mín guó shì zhōng guó de lín guó.
    The Republic of Korea is a neighbor of China.
  • 大韩。
    Wǒ zuò dà hán háng kōng qù shǒu ěr.
    I flew Korean Air to Seoul.
  • 大韩。
    dà hán Dì guó de lì shǐ hěn yǒu míng.
    The history of the Korean Empire is very famous.

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dàgreat
韩hánKorea

大 means great and 韩 names Korea, so this form appears in formal names for Korea.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 韓; 韩 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
韋韋wéisurround
Sound part声符shēngfú
倝
倝gàn韓Hán
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 韓 pairs 倝, a sound part, with 韋, a part meaning 'surround'; the simplified 韩 is a later shorthand.

Open 韩 →

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