新西兰 (Xīn xī lán) — New Zealand (country)

Definition

Standard name for the country New Zealand, pronounced Xīn Xī Lán. Don't confuse with 新疆 (Xīnjiāng), the northwestern region.

noun
New Zealand (country)

Examples

  • 新西兰。
    Tā qù nián qù le Xīn xī lán liú xué.
    He went to New Zealand last year to study abroad.
  • 新西兰。
    Xīn xī lán De niú nǎi zài zhōng guó hěn yǒu míng.
    New Zealand's milk is very famous in China.
  • 新西兰。
    Tā jì huà míng nián qù Xīn xī lán lǚ yóu.
    She plans to travel to New Zealand next year.

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.

新xīn
西xī
兰lán

The characters 新, 西, and 兰 carry no meaning of their own here; the whole word spells New Zealand.

Sound-only characters

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 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 西 →

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 蘭; 兰 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
艹Written in full as艸cǎoplant
Sound part声符shēngfú
闌
闌lán蘭lán
Same sound today

In the traditional form 蘭, 艹 marks it as a plant and 闌 stands for the sound; the simplified 兰 is a later shorthand, not the original parts.

Open 兰 →

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