库尔德 (Kù ěr dé) — Kurdish (ethnic group, language, or related to Kurdistan)

Definition

noun
Kurdish (ethnic group, language, or related to Kurdistan)

Examples

  • 库尔德、、。
    Kù ěr dé Rén zhǔ yào shēng huó zài tǔ ěr qí, yī lǎng, yī lā kè hé xù lì yà.
    Kurdish people mainly live in Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria.
  • 库尔德。
    Tā zài xué xí Kù ěr dé yǔ.
    He is learning the Kurdish language.
  • 库尔德。
    Kù ěr dé Wén huà yǒu zhe yōu jiǔ de lì shǐ hé dú tè de chuán tǒng.
    Kurdish culture has a long history and unique traditions.

Origin

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 庫; 库 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
广广guǎngbuilding
Sound part声符shēngfú
車
車jū庫kù
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 庫 pairs 广 (building) with 車 (sound); the building part points to a storehouse. The simplified 库 is a later shorthand.

Open 库 →

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
彳彳chìroad
Sound part声符shēngfú
惪
惪dé德dé
Same sound today

德 combines 彳, a road, with 惪, a component meaning virtue that also supplies the sound.

Open 德 →

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