柬埔寨 (Jiǎn pǔ zhài) — Cambodia | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

Cambodia

柬埔寨。
Wǒ qù guò Jiǎn pǔ zhài lǚ yóu.
I have traveled to Cambodia.
柬埔寨。
Jiǎn pǔ zhài Shì yí gè dōng nán yà guó jiā.
Cambodia is a Southeast Asian country.
柬埔寨。
Wǒ zuì jìn duì Jiǎn pǔ zhài de lì shǐ hěn gǎn xìng qù.
I have recently become very interested in Cambodia's history.

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.

柬jiǎn

The characters 柬埔寨 carry no meaning of their own here; they spell the country name Cambodia.

Sound-only characters

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

柬 shows 束, a tied bag, with 八, two marks inside it that emphasize the contents being picked out.

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

土甫埔

Meaning part形符xíngfú

土土tǔearth

Sound part声符shēngfú

甫

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

埔 uses 土 for earth or land, and 甫 gives the sound.

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

𡨄木寨

Meaning part形符xíngfú

木木mùwood

Sound part声符shēngfú

𡨄

𡨄𡨄寨zhài

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

寨 pairs 木 (wood) with 𡨄, which gives the sound; the wood part shows the meaning is related to wood.