格林威治 (gé lín ní zhì) — Greenwich (district of London, England) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A London district famous for the Royal Observatory and the Greenwich meridian (本初子午线), the zero point for global time zones and longitude. Usually appears as part of fixed names like 格林威治时间 ('Greenwich Mean Time').

noun

Greenwich (district of London, England)

Examples

格林威治。
gé lín ní zhì Shì yīng guó lún dūn de yí gè dì fāng.
Greenwich is a place in London, England.
格林威治。
Wǒ zài dì tú shàng zhǎo dào le gé lín ní zhì.
I found Greenwich on the map.
格林威治？
Nǐ zhī dào gé lín ní zhì yǒu huáng jiā tiān wén tái ma?
Do you know that Greenwich has the Royal Observatory?

Origin

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.

木各格

Meaning part形符xíngfú

木木mùwood

Sound part声符shēngfú

各

各gè格gé

Same sound today

格 is built from 木 (wood) on the left and 各 on the right, which gives the sound.

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

木木林

木木mùtree
木木mùtree

林 is made of two 木 (tree) placed side by side, showing many trees together, hence a forest.

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

戌女威

戌戌xū
女女nǚ

威 is made by combining 戌 and 女.

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

水水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

台

台tái治zhì

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

治 has 水 (water) and 台; 台 gives the sound, and the character named a river.

Appears in

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