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热那亚 (Rè nà yà) — Genoa

Definition

noun
Genoa

Examples

  • 热那亚。
    Wǒ dǎ suàn míng nián qù Rè nà yà lǚ xíng.
    I plan to travel to Genoa next year.
  • 热那亚。
    Rè nà yà Shì yì dà lì de yí gè gǎng kǒu chéng shì.
    Genoa is a port city in Italy.
  • 热那亚。
    Tīng shuō Rè nà yà de hǎi xiān hěn hǎo chī.
    I hear the seafood in Genoa is delicious.

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.

热rè
那nà
亚yà

The characters 热那亚 carry no meaning of their own here; they simply spell the foreign name Genoa.

Sound-only characters

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 熱; 热 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
灬Written in full as火huǒfire
Sound part声符shēngfú
埶
埶yì熱rè
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 熱 pairs 埶 with 火 (written as 灬) to show heat, while 埶 gives a sound.

Open 热 →

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
邑邑yìcity
Sound part声符shēngfú
冄
冉rǎn那nà
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The right part 邑 shows a city, and the left part 冄 (written 冉) gives the sound. The character first named a state and was later used to mean 'that'.

Open 那 →

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 →
Appears in
City & Urban

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