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布加勒斯特 (bù jiā lè sī tè) — Bucharest (capital of Romania)

Definition

noun
Bucharest (capital of Romania)

Examples

  • 布加勒斯特。
    Wǒ míng nián xiǎng qù bù jiā lè sī tè lǚ yóu.
    I want to travel to Bucharest next year.
  • 布加勒斯特，。
    bù jiā lè sī tè Shì luó mǎ ní yà de shǒu dū, yě shì yí zuò lì shǐ míng chéng.
    Bucharest is the capital of Romania and also a historic city.
  • 布加勒斯特，。
    Tā zài bù jiā lè sī tè zhù le sān nián, xué huì le luó mǎ ní yà yǔ.
    He lived in Bucharest for three years and learned Romanian.

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.

布bù
加jiā
勒lè
斯sī
特tè

The characters spell the foreign place name Bucharest 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
巾巾jīnkerchief
Sound part声符shēngfú
父
父fù布bù
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

布 pairs 巾, a kerchief, with 父 as a sound part.

Open 布 →

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
革革gé
Sound part声符shēngfú
力
力lì勒lè
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

勒 pairs 革 (leather), because bridles are made of leather, with 力, which gives the sound.

Open 勒 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 斯 →

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
牛牛niúox
Sound part声符shēngfú
寺
寺sì特tè
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape combines 牛 (ox) with 寺, which gives the pronunciation; it originally meant a large bull.

Open 特 →
Appears in
City & Urban

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