安第斯 (An dì sī) — the Andes (mountain range in South America)

Definition

noun

the Andes (mountain range in South America)

安第斯。
An dì sī Shān mài shì shì jiè shàng zuì cháng de shān mài.
The Andes mountain range is the longest in the world.
安第斯。
Hěn duō yóu kè qù nán měi jiù shì wèi le kàn An dì sī.
Many tourists go to South America just to see the Andes.
安第斯。
An dì sī Héng kuà qī gè guó jiā.
The Andes stretches across seven countries.

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.

安第斯 spells the foreign name Andes; the characters carry no meaning of their own here.

Sound-only characters

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

宀女安

Meaning part形符xíngfú

宀宀mián

Sound part声符shēngfú

女

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 安, 宀 sits above a seated 女 on a cushion; 宀 is the meaning part, 女 is the sound part, and the character originally meant sitting at ease.

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

𥫗Written in full as竹zhúbamboo

Sound part声符shēngfú

弟

Same sound today

第 shows 𥫗, the bamboo strips once used for writing and sorting, with 弟 giving the sound.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.