市容 (shì róng) — the appearance or condition of a city (streets, buildings, cleanliness)

Definition

市容 refers to a city's overall appearance — streets, buildings, cleanliness, signage — usually in the context of government upkeep or civic improvement. Unlike 城市 (the city as a place), 市容 is specifically how the city looks.

noun
the appearance or condition of a city (streets, buildings, cleanliness)

Examples

  • 市容，。
    Zhè ge chéng shì de shì róng hěn hǎo, jiē dào hěn gān jìng.
    This city's appearance is very good; the streets are very clean.
  • 市容。
    Zhèng fǔ zhèng zài nǔ lì gǎi shàn shì róng.
    The government is working hard to improve the city's appearance.
  • ，市容。
    Wèi le yíng jiē ào yùn huì, chéng shì dà lì zhěng zhì shì róng.
    To welcome the Olympics, the city made great efforts to improve its appearance.

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.

市shìcity
容róngappearance

市 names the city and 容 its appearance, together meaning the look of the city.

Characters in this word

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
兮兮xībustling
Sound part声符shēngfú
之
之zhī市shì
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The old form 市 pairs 兮, meaning bustling, with 之, the sound part.

Open 市 →

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
公
公gōng容róng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 容, the 宀 (roof) part points to holding or containing, and 公 gives the sound.

Open 容 →

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