纽西兰 (Niǔ xī lán) — New Zealand (used in Taiwan)

Definition

The Mandarin name for New Zealand used in Taiwan. In mainland China the standard form is 新西兰.

noun
New Zealand (used in Taiwan)

Examples

  • 纽西兰。
    Wǒ míng nián xiǎng qù Niǔ xī lán lǚ xíng.
    I want to travel to New Zealand next year.
  • 纽西兰。
    Niǔ xī lán Shì yí gè fēng jǐng měi lì de guó jiā.
    New Zealand is a country with beautiful scenery.
  • 纽西兰？
    Nǐ yǐ qián qù guò Niǔ xī lán ma?
    Have you been to New Zealand before?

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.

纽niǔ
西xī
兰lán

The characters only spell the foreign name New Zealand and carry no meaning of their own.

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 紐; 纽 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糸糸mìsilk
Sound part声符shēngfú
丑
丑chǒu紐niǔ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 紐 has 糸 (silk) for tying and 丑 for sound; 丑 also points to a claw or hand, fitting a handle. The simplified 纽 is a later shorthand.

Open 纽 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 西 →

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 蘭; 兰 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
艹Written in full as艸cǎoplant
Sound part声符shēngfú
闌
闌lán蘭lán
Same sound today

In the traditional form 蘭, 艹 marks it as a plant and 闌 stands for the sound; the simplified 兰 is a later shorthand, not the original parts.

Open 兰 →

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