摩尔多瓦 (Mó ěr duō wǎ) — Moldova

Definition

noun
Moldova

Examples

  • 摩尔多瓦。
    Mó ěr duō wǎ Shì yí gè dōng ōu guó jiā.
    Moldova is an Eastern European country.
  • 摩尔多瓦。
    Wǒ qù guò Mó ěr duō wǎ lǚ xíng.
    I have traveled to Moldova.
  • 摩尔多瓦。
    Mó ěr duō wǎ De shǒu dū shì jī xī nè wū.
    The capital of Moldova is Chișinău.

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.

摩mó
尔ěr
多duō
瓦wǎ

The characters only spell the foreign name Moldova and do not carry separate meanings 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
手手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
麻
麻má摩mó
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

摩 combines 手 (hand) with 麻; the hand part relates to the meaning, and 麻 gives the sound.

Open 摩 →

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 →

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

多 originally showed two pieces of meat placed together; the repeated meat shape gives the sense of many.

Open 多 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

瓦’s shape is a picture of fired earthenware pottery or a tile.

Open 瓦 →

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