新城 (xīn chéng) — new city; new town

Definition

noun
new citynew town
Measure word · 座
Easily confused

Examples

  • 新城。
    Zhè zuò xīn chéng shì jìn nián guī huà jiàn shè de.
    This new city was planned and built in recent years.
  • 新城。
    Tā men cóng lǎo chéng qū bān dào le xīn chéng.
    They moved from the old city district to the new city.
  • 新城。
    Táng dài de xīn chéng yí zhǐ wèi yú chéng xī shí gōng lǐ chù.
    The ruins of the Tang Dynasty's new city are located ten kilometers west of the city.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

新xīnnew
城chéngcity

新 (new) and 城 (city) together describe a city that is new or newly built.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
斤斤jīn
Sound part声符shēngfú
辛
辛xīn新xīn
Same sound today

The shape originally paired 斤, for chopping wood, with 辛 for sound. It was borrowed for its sound to write 新, so the chopping-wood parts are unrelated to 'new'.

Open 新 →

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
土土tǔsoil
Sound part声符shēngfú
成
成chéng城chéng
Same sound today

城 pairs 土 (soil) with 成 as a sound part, because city walls were originally made of stamped earth.

Open 城 →

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