斯坦福 (sī tǎn fú) — Stanford (University)

Definition

noun
Stanford (University)

Examples

  • 斯坦福
    Tā qù nián kǎo shàng le sī tǎn fú dà xué.
    He was admitted to Stanford University last year.
  • 斯坦福
    sī tǎn fú Zài guī gǔ fù jìn, hěn duō xué shēng qù nà lǐ chuàng yè.
    Stanford is near Silicon Valley, and many students go there to start businesses.
  • 斯坦福
    Wǒ tīng shuō sī tǎn fú de jì suàn jī zhuān yè fēi cháng yǒu míng.
    I heard that Stanford's computer science program is very famous.

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.

斯坦福 spells a foreign name, and the characters carry no meaning here.

Sound-only characters

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 斯 →

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
earth
Sound part声符shēngfú
dàntǎn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

坦 is made from 土 (earth) plus 旦, which provides the sound. The earth part shows the sense is about ground.

Open 坦 →

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
Sound part声符shēngfú
Same sound today

福 combines 示 and 畐, with 示 carrying the meaning and 畐 the sound.

Open 福 →

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