比勒陀利亚 (Bǐ lè tuó lì yà) — Pretoria

Definition

noun
Pretoria

Examples

  • 比勒陀利亚。
    Nán fēi de shǒu dū shì Bǐ lè tuó lì yà.
    The capital of South Africa is Pretoria.
  • 比勒陀利亚。
    Bǐ lè tuó lì yà Zài háo dēng shěng.
    Pretoria is in Gauteng province.
  • 比勒陀利亚。
    Wǒ tīng shuō Bǐ lè tuó lì yà hěn piào liang.
    I heard Pretoria is very beautiful.

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.

  • 匕匕bǐ
  • 匕匕bǐ

比 is two 匕 placed side by side. Chu Wan-li treats both as sound parts, while an old reading takes the side-by-side arrangement as putting things next to each other.

Open 比 →

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
革革gé
Sound part声符shēngfú
力
力lì勒lè
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

勒 pairs 革 (leather), because bridles are made of leather, with 力, which gives the sound.

Open 勒 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 陀 →

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

利 combines 禾 (grain) and 刀 (knife), showing a knife used to cut grain.

Open 利 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 亞; 亚 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 亞 likely shows an overhead view of a construction, perhaps a 亞-shaped tomb. Its later simplified form 亚 is just a shorthand.

Open 亚 →

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