河南 (Hé nán) — Henan province

Definition

noun
Henan province

Examples

  • 河南。
    Wǒ qù nián qù Hé nán lǚ yóu le.
    I went to Henan for tourism last year.
  • 河南，。
    Hé nán Wèi yú zhōng guó zhōng bù, rén kǒu hěn duō.
    Henan is located in central China, with a large population.
  • 河南。
    Wǒ de péng you shì Hé nán rén.
    My friend is from Henan.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

河hériver
南nánsouth

河 names the river and 南 gives south, together south of the river.

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
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
何
何hé河hé
Same sound today

河 pairs 水 (water) with 何, which gives the sound. The 水 part marks it as a word for a river.

Open 河 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 南 →

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