拜占庭 (Bài zhàn tíng) — Byzantium (ancient city & Eastern Roman Empire); Byzantine (related to the Byzantine Empire or its art/architecture)

Definition

Proper noun for Byzantium — the ancient Greek city on the Bosphorus and, by extension, the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire that inherited it. As a modifier (拜占庭风格, 拜占庭帝国) it means 'Byzantine'.

noun
Byzantium (ancient city & Eastern Roman Empire)Byzantine (related to the Byzantine Empire or its art/architecture)

Examples

  • 拜占庭。
    Bài zhàn tíng Dì guó duì ōu zhōu zhōng shì jì lì shǐ yǐng xiǎng shēn yuǎn.
    The Byzantine Empire had a profound influence on medieval European history.
  • 拜占庭。
    Zhè zuò jiào táng de Bài zhàn tíng fēng gé bì huà bǎo cún dé fēi cháng hǎo.
    The Byzantine-style murals in this church are very well preserved.
  • 拜占庭，。
    Rú guǒ nǐ duì Bài zhàn tíng gǎn xìng qù, kě yǐ kàn kàn nà běn lì shǐ shū.
    If you're interested in Byzantium, you can take a look at that history book.

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.

拜bài
占zhàn
庭tíng

The characters only spell the foreign name Byzantium; they carry no separate meanings here.

Sound-only characters

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

拜 combines 扌 (hand, written fully as 手) with 𠦪 (herbs), showing a hand holding herbs as a gift.

Open 拜 →

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 佔; 占 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
占
占zhàn佔zhàn
Same sound today

The traditional form 佔 has a person part 亻 and a sound part 占; the simplified 占 is a later abbreviation.

Open 占 →

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
广广guǎng
Sound part声符shēngfú
廷
廷tíng庭tíng
Same sound today

庭 combines 广 with 廷. The 廷 part gives the sound, and 广 is the meaning part.

Open 庭 →

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