艾菲尔铁塔 (Aì fēi ěr tiě tǎ) — Eiffel Tower

Definition

noun
Eiffel Tower
Measure word · 座

Examples

  • 艾菲尔铁塔。
    Wǒ míng nián xiǎng qù bā lí kàn Aì fēi ěr tiě tǎ.
    I want to go to Paris to see the Eiffel Tower next year.
  • 艾菲尔铁塔。
    Aì fēi ěr tiě tǎ Shì bā lí zuì zhù míng de biāo zhì zhī yī.
    The Eiffel Tower is one of the most famous landmarks in Paris.
  • 艾菲尔铁塔，。
    Wǎn shàng qù Aì fēi ěr tiě tǎ, kě yǐ kàn dào hěn měi dì dēng guāng.
    Going to the Eiffel Tower at night, you can see very beautiful lights.

Origin

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.

艾菲尔Eiffel
艾ài菲fēi尔ěr
音译Transliteration
铁塔iron tower
铁tiěiron塔tǎtower
偏正Modifier + head

艾菲尔 spells Eiffel, and 铁塔 means iron tower; together they name the Eiffel Tower.

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
艸艸cǎograss
Sound part声符shēngfú
乂
乂yì艾ài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

艾 has 艸, a grass sign, on top and 乂 below to give its sound.

Open 艾 →

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
艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant
Sound part声符shēngfú
非
非fēi菲fěi
Same sound today

菲 puts 艹, showing a plant, together with 非, which gives its sound.

Open 菲 →

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 →

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 鐵; 铁 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
金金jīnmetal
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢧤
𢧤𢧤鐵tiě
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 鐵 pairs 金 (metal) with 𢧤 as a sound part; the simplified 铁 is a later shorthand.

Open 铁 →

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
土土tǔ
Sound part声符shēngfú
荅
荅dá塔tǎ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

塔 shows 土 (earth) for the meaning and 荅 (dá) for the sound.

Open 塔 →

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