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巴尔的摩 (Bā ěr dì mó) — Baltimore

Definition

noun
Baltimore

Examples

  • 巴尔的摩。
    Wǒ xià ge yuè yào qù Bā ěr dì mó chū chāi.
    I'm going to Baltimore on a business trip next month.
  • 巴尔的摩。
    Tā zài Bā ěr dì mó shēng huó le wǔ nián.
    He lived in Baltimore for five years.
  • 巴尔的摩。
    Bā ěr dì mó Shì měi guó dōng bù de yí gè zhòng yào chéng shì.
    Baltimore is an important city on the East Coast of the United States.

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.

巴bā
尔ěr
的de
摩mó

巴尔的摩 only spells the foreign name Baltimore; these characters carry no separate meanings here.

Sound-only characters

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 巴 →

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

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 爾; 尔 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 爾, simplified as 尔, originally drew cloth on a loom with crossing threads. It was borrowed for its sound to write “you,” so the picture is unrelated to that meaning.

Open 尔 →

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
白白báiwhite
Sound part声符shēngfú
勺
勺sháo的de
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

的 pairs 白, related to white or brightness, with 勺, which gives a clue to the sound. Its older form 旳 meant bright.

Open 的 →

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

摩 combines 手 (hand) with 麻; the hand part relates to the meaning, and 麻 gives the sound.

Open 摩 →
Appears in
City & Urban

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