英格兰 (Yīng gé lán) — England

Definition

英格兰 refers specifically to England, the country — the largest part of the United Kingdom (英国). In most contexts 英格兰 and 英国 are interchangeable, but use 英国 for the political whole (UK).

noun
England

Examples

  • 英格兰，。
    Yīng gé lán Shì yīng guó de zhǔ yào bù fen, wèi yú dà bú liè diān dǎo nán bù.
    England is the main part of the UK, located in the south of Great Britain.
  • 英格兰，。
    Tā qù nián qù Yīng gé lán liú xué, xué xí yīng guó wén xué.
    He went to England last year to study, learning English literature.
  • 英格兰。
    Yīng gé lán De zú qiú lián sài zài quán qiú dōu fēi cháng yǒu míng.
    England's football league is very famous worldwide.

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.

英yīng
格gé
兰lán

The characters 英, 格, and 兰 here only spell the foreign name England, so no separate meanings are carried.

Sound-only characters

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
Sound part声符shēngfú
央
央yāng英yīng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

英 pairs 艹 (grass) with 央, which gives the sound.

Open 英 →

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
木木mùwood
Sound part声符shēngfú
各
各gè格gé
Same sound today

格 is built from 木 (wood) on the left and 各 on the right, which gives the sound.

Open 格 →

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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