尼加拉瓜 (Ní jiā lā guā) — Nicaragua

Definition

noun
Nicaragua

Examples

  • 尼加拉瓜。
    Ní jiā lā guā Shì zhōng měi zhōu de yí gè guó jiā.
    Nicaragua is a country in Central America.
  • 尼加拉瓜。
    Ní jiā lā guā De shǒu dū shì mǎ nà guā.
    The capital of Nicaragua is Managua.
  • 尼加拉瓜。
    Qù nián xià tiān wǒ qù le Ní jiā lā guā lǚ yóu.
    Last summer I traveled to Nicaragua.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

The shape draws one person sitting on or leaning against another person, giving the sense of stopping close to someone.

Open 尼 →

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 →

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
手手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
立
立lì拉lā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

拉 pairs 手 (hand) with 立, a component that supplies the sound.

Open 拉 →

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

The shape of 瓜 is drawn from a melon hanging from its vines, which matches its meaning.

Open 瓜 →

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