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异国 (yì guó) — foreign country

Definition

noun
foreign country
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 异国，。
    Tā zài yì guó shēng huó le shí nián, yǐ jīng xí guàn le nà lǐ de shēng huó.
    He has lived in a foreign country for ten years and is used to life there.
  • 异国。
    Liǎo jiě yì guó de wén huà xū yào shí jiān hé nài xīn.
    Understanding the culture of a foreign country takes time and patience.
  • 异国，，。
    Zài yì guó, tā suī rán gǎn dào gū dú, dàn yě xiǎng shòu zì yóu.
    In a foreign country, although she feels lonely, she also enjoys freedom.

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.

异yìforeign
国guócountry

异 (foreign) and 国 (country) together mean a country that is not one's own.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 異; 异 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 異 depicts a person with a mask 田 over the face, so the face looks different. The simplified 异 is a later shorthand.

Open 异 →

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 國; 国 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
囗囗wéiclosure
Sound part声符shēngfú
或
或huò國guó
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 國 uses 囗 to show closure and 或 to give the sound.

Open 国 →
Appears in
International & Diplomacy

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