州界 (zhōu jiè) — state border; state line

Definition

noun
state borderstate line

Examples

  • 州界。
    Wǒ men zhèng zài jīng guò zhōu jiè.
    We are passing the state border.
  • 州界。
    Dì tú shàng qīng chǔ dì biāo chū le zhōu jiè.
    The map clearly marks the state border.
  • 州界。
    Zhù zài zhōu jiè fù jìn de rén jīng cháng kuà zhōu gōng zuò.
    People living near the state border often work across states.

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.

州zhōustate; province
界jièboundary

州 names the state or province, and 界 marks its boundary, together giving a state line.

Characters in this word

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

州 originally drew an islet in a river.

Open 州 →

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
田田tiánfield
Sound part声符shēngfú
介
介jiè界jiè
Same sound today

界 is built from 田 (field) and 介. 田 carries the meaning, while 介 gives the sound.

Open 界 →

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