摩尔曼斯克 (mó ěr màn sī kè) — Murmansk (city in Russia)

Definition

noun
Murmansk (city in Russia)

Examples

  • 摩尔曼斯克。
    Wǒ míng nián xiǎng qù mó ěr màn sī kè lǚ yóu.
    I want to travel to Murmansk next year.
  • 摩尔曼斯克。
    mó ěr màn sī kè Shì é luó sī běi bù de yí gè zhòng yào gǎng kǒu.
    Murmansk is an important port in northern Russia.
  • 摩尔曼斯克。
    Tā zài mó ěr màn sī kè shēng huó le wǔ nián.
    He lived in Murmansk for five years.

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
曼màn
斯sī
克kè

The characters carry no meaning of their own here; together they spell Murmansk.

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 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 曼 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 斯 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 克 →

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