沃尔沃 (Wò ěr wò) — Volvo (Swedish car company)

Definition

noun
Volvo (Swedish car company)

Examples

  • 沃尔沃。
    Tā kāi le yí liàng Wò ěr wò qì chē.
    He drives a Volvo car.
  • 沃尔沃。
    Wò ěr wò Yǐ ān quán xìng néng zhù chēng yú shì.
    Volvo is renowned worldwide for its safety performance.
  • 沃尔沃。
    Wǒ fù qīn zuì jìn mǎi le yì tái Wò ěr wò.
    My father recently bought a Volvo.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
夭
夭yāo沃wò
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

沃 combines 氵 (water) with 夭 giving the sound; the shape shows irrigating with water.

Open 沃 →

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

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 爾; 尔 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 爾, simplified as 尔, originally drew cloth on a loom with crossing threads. It was borrowed for its sound to write “you,” so the picture is unrelated to that meaning.

Open 尔 →

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
夭
夭yāo沃wò
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

沃 combines 氵 (water) with 夭 giving the sound; the shape shows irrigating with water.

Open 沃 →

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