津巴布韦 (Jīn bā bù wéi) — Zimbabwe

Definition

noun
Zimbabwe

Examples

  • 津巴布韦。
    Jīn bā bù wéi Shì fēi zhōu nán bù de yí gè nèi lù guó jiā.
    Zimbabwe is a landlocked country in southern Africa.
  • 津巴布韦。
    Wǒ yǒu gè péng you zài Jīn bā bù wéi gōng zuò.
    I have a friend who works in Zimbabwe.
  • 津巴布韦。
    Jīn bā bù wéi De wéi duō lì yà pù bù shì shì jiè zì rán qí guān zhī yī.
    Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe is one of the world's natural wonders.

Origin

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.

津jīn
巴bā
布bù
韦wéi

The characters 津巴布韦 only spell the foreign name Zimbabwe; no individual character contributes a meaning.

Sound-only characters

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
盡
盡jìn津jīn
Same sound today

津 is made from 水, water, and 盡, which supplies the sound.

Open 津 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 巴 →

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
巾巾jīnkerchief
Sound part声符shēngfú
父
父fù布bù
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

布 pairs 巾, a kerchief, with 父 as a sound part.

Open 布 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 韋; 韦 is its simplified writing.

  • 舛舛chuǎn
  • 囗囗wéi

The traditional form 韋 pairs 舛, footsteps, with 囗, an enclosure, to show feet moving around an enclosure; the simplified 韦 is a shorthand.

Open 韦 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.