海尔 (hǎi ěr) — Haier (Chinese home appliance brand); Hale (surname)

Definition

The name of the famous Chinese home-appliance brand (refrigerators, washers, etc.). The first example uses the brand sense; the second/third use it as the transliteration of the Western surname 'Hale' — disambiguate from context.

noun
Haier (Chinese home appliance brand)Hale (surname)

Examples

  • 海尔。
    Wǒ jiā de bīng xiāng shì hǎi ěr de.
    My family's refrigerator is a Haier.
  • 海尔。
    hǎi ěr Shì zhōng guó zuì zhù míng de jiā diàn pǐn pái zhī yī.
    Haier is one of China's most famous home appliance brands.
  • 海尔，。
    Zhè wèi jiào shòu xìng hǎi ěr, lái zì měi guó.
    This professor's last name is Hale, and he comes from America.

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

海 pairs 氵 (water) with 每, which gives the sound. The 氵 side shows it is about water.

Open 海 →

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 →

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