摩尔达维亚 (mó ěr dá wéi yà) — Moldavia (historical region in Eastern Europe)

Definition

A historical region in Eastern Europe, roughly covering today's Republic of Moldova and parts of Romania. Often paired with 瓦拉几亚 (Wallachia); both merged in 1859 to form the basis of modern Romania.

noun
Moldavia (historical region in Eastern Europe)

Examples

  • 摩尔达维亚。
    mó ěr dá wéi yà Shì dōng ōu de yí gè lì shǐ dì qū.
    Moldavia is a historical region in Eastern Europe.
  • 摩尔达维亚。
    Tā xiě le yì běn guān yú mó ěr dá wéi yà lì shǐ de shū.
    He wrote a book about the history of Moldavia.
  • 摩尔达维亚。
    mó ěr dá wéi yà Hé wǎ lā jǐ yà céng shì liǎng gè gōng guó.
    Moldavia and Wallachia were once two principalities.

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
达dá
维wéi
亚yà

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

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 →

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
辶Written in full as辵chuò
Sound part声符shēngfú
大
大dà达dá
Same sound today

This form 达 pairs 辶 (written in full as 辵) with 大 as a sound component.

Open 达 →

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 維; 维 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糸糸mìthread
Sound part声符shēngfú
唯
唯wéi維wéi
Same sound today

In the traditional form 維, 糸 marks a thread meaning and 唯 provides the sound; the simplified 维 is a later shortened shape.

Open 维 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 亞; 亚 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 亞 likely shows an overhead view of a construction, perhaps a 亞-shaped tomb. Its later simplified form 亚 is just a shorthand.

Open 亚 →

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