安达卢西亚 (ān dá lú xī yà) — Andalusia (autonomous region in southern Spain)

Definition

noun
Andalusia (autonomous region in southern Spain)

Examples

  • 安达卢西亚。
    Jīn nián xià tiān wǒ dǎ suàn qù ān dá lú xī yà lǚ xíng.
    I plan to travel to Andalusia this summer.
  • 安达卢西亚。
    ān dá lú xī yà De fú lā mén gē wǔ jǔ shì wén míng.
    Andalusia's flamenco dance is world-famous.
  • 安达卢西亚。
    Sài wéi lì yà shì ān dá lú xī yà de shǒu fǔ.
    Seville is the capital of Andalusia.

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.

安ān
达dá
卢lú
西xī
亚yà

The characters 安达卢西亚 only spell the foreign name Andalusia and 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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
宀宀mián
Sound part声符shēngfú
女
女nǚ安ān
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.

Open 安 →

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
辶Written in full as辵chuò
Sound part声符shēngfú
大
大dà达dá
Same sound today

This form 达 pairs 辶 (written in full as 辵) with 大 as a sound component.

Open 达 →

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 盧; 卢 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
田田tiánpictogram of an oven
皿皿mǐnvessel
Sound part声符shēngfú
虍
虍hū盧lú
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 盧 began as a picture of an oven, later written 田, with 皿 (a vessel) and 虍 (for sound) added; simplified 卢 is a shorthand.

Open 卢 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 西 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 亞; 亚 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 亞 likely shows an overhead view of a construction, perhaps a 亞-shaped tomb. Its later simplified form 亚 is just a shorthand.

Open 亚 →

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