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柏拉图 (Bó lā tú) — Plato

Definition

noun
Plato

Examples

  • 柏拉图。
    Bó lā tú Shì yí wèi gǔ xī là zhé xué jiā.
    Plato is an ancient Greek philosopher.
  • 柏拉图。
    Wǒ dú guò jǐ běn Bó lā tú de zhù zuò.
    I have read several works by Plato.
  • 柏拉图。
    Bó lā tú De sī xiǎng duì xī fāng wén huà yǐng xiǎng hěn dà.
    Plato's thought has a great influence on Western culture.

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.

柏bǎi
拉lā
图tú

The characters 柏拉图 spell the foreign name and carry no independent meanings here.

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
木木mùtree
Sound part声符shēngfú
白
白bái柏bǎi
Same sound today

柏 pairs 木, showing a tree, with 白, which gives the sound.

Open 柏 →

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
立
立lì拉lā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

拉 pairs 手 (hand) with 立, a component that supplies the sound.

Open 拉 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 圖; 图 is its simplified writing.

  • 囗囗wéiwalled city
  • 啚啚bǐ

The traditional form 圖 pairs 囗, a walled city, with 啚, an early form meaning remote areas or territory. The simplified 图 is a later abbreviation.

Open 图 →
Appears in
History

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