莎 (shā) — used as a phonetic in transliterations (especially in personal and place names)
Definition
莎 is a bound character with no standalone meaning — it appears only as a phonetic component in transliterated foreign names and words (莎士比亚 = Shakespeare, 丽莎 = Lisa). Without it, you can't write these names in Chinese.
bound form
used as a phonetic in transliterations (especially in personal and place names)
Examples
- 莎。Tā de yīng wén míng zì shì lì shā.Her English name is Lisa.
- 。Wǒ zuì xǐ huan de zuò jiā shì shā shì bǐ yà.My favorite writer is Shakespeare.
- 莎，。Zhè ge zì shì shā, cháng yòng yú yīn yì wài lái cí.This character is ∼, often used for transliterating foreign words.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost 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
莎 pairs 艸, a grass component, with 沙, which supplies its sound.
Appears in
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