瑞安 (Ruì ān) — Ruian (city in Zhejiang, China)

Definition

noun

Ruian (city in Zhejiang, China)

瑞安。
Wǒ cóng běi jīng zuò huǒ chē qù Ruì ān.
I take a train from Beijing to Ruian.
瑞安。
Ruì ān Shì yí gè měi lì de chéng shì.
Ruian is a beautiful city.
瑞安。
Wǒ tīng shuō Ruì ān de jīng jì hěn fā dá.
I've heard that Ruian's economy is very developed.

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.

瑞ruìauspicious

瑞 means auspicious and 安 means peace, together giving an auspicious place name.

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

玉玉yùjade

Sound part声符shēngfú

耑

耑zhuān瑞ruì

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

瑞 pairs 玉, meaning jade, with 耑, which gives its sound.

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

宀女安

Meaning part形符xíngfú

宀宀mián

Sound part声符shēngfú

女

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

In 安, 宀 sits above a seated 女 on a cushion; 宀 is the meaning part, 女 is the sound part, and the character originally meant sitting at ease.

Appears in