康涅狄格 (Kāng niè dí gé) — Connecticut

Definition

noun
Connecticut

Examples

  • 康涅狄格。
    Wǒ zhù zài Kāng niè dí gé.
    I live in Connecticut.
  • 康涅狄格。
    Kāng niè dí gé Shì měi guó de yí gè zhōu.
    Connecticut is a state in the United States.
  • 康涅狄格。
    Tā qù nián qù Kāng niè dí gé lǚ xíng le.
    He traveled to Connecticut last year.

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.

康kāng
涅niè
狄dí
格gé

The characters transliterate the English state name Connecticut; none carries its own meaning.

Sound-only characters

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

康 pairs 庚 (threshing tools) with 米 (rice), showing rice being processed into chaff.

Open 康 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

涅 puts together 氵 (water) and 土 (soil), while 日 gives the sound.

Open 涅 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 狄 →

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
木木mùwood
Sound part声符shēngfú
各
各gè格gé
Same sound today

格 is built from 木 (wood) on the left and 各 on the right, which gives the sound.

Open 格 →

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