蒙彼利埃 (Méng bǐ lì āi) — Montpellier (city in southern France) | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

Montpellier (city in southern France)

Examples

蒙彼利埃。
Wǒ qù nián qù le Méng bǐ lì āi.
I went to Montpellier last year.
蒙彼利埃。
Méng bǐ lì āi Shì fǎ guó nán bù de yí gè měi lì chéng shì.
Montpellier is a beautiful city in southern France.
蒙彼利埃？
Nǐ tīng shuō guò Méng bǐ lì āi ma?
Have you heard of Montpellier?

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.

The characters 蒙彼利埃 carry no meaning of their own here; they spell the French city Montpellier.

Sound-only characters

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

艹冡蒙

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎograss

Sound part声符shēngfú

冡

冡měng蒙méng

Same sound today

蒙 combines 艹 (grass) with 冡, which supplies the sound.

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

彳皮彼

Meaning part形符xíngfú

彳彳chì

Sound part声符shēngfú

皮

皮pí彼bǐ

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left part 彳 points to the meaning, and the right part 皮 gives the sound.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

禾禾hégrain
刀刀dāoknife

利 combines 禾 (grain) and 刀 (knife), showing a knife used to cut grain.

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

土矣埃

Meaning part形符xíngfú

土土tǔearth; soil

Sound part声符shēngfú

矣

矣yǐ埃āi

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

The 土 side of 埃 relates to earth or soil, while 矣 gives the sound.

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