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蒙特利尔 (Méng tè lì ěr) — Montreal (city in Canada)

Definition

noun
Montreal (city in Canada)

Examples

  • 蒙特利尔。
    Wǒ míng nián xiǎng qù Méng tè lì ěr kàn kàn.
    I want to go to Montreal next year to see it.
  • 蒙特利尔。
    Méng tè lì ěr Shì jiā ná dà zuì dà de chéng shì zhī yī.
    Montreal is one of the largest cities in Canada.
  • 蒙特利尔。
    Tā cóng Méng tè lì ěr bān dào duō lún duō le.
    He moved from Montreal to Toronto.

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.

蒙méng
特tè
利lì
尔ěr

These four characters only spell the foreign name Montreal; none carries a separate meaning here.

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
冡
冡měng蒙méng
Same sound today

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

Open 蒙 →

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
牛牛niúox
Sound part声符shēngfú
寺
寺sì特tè
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape combines 牛 (ox) with 寺, which gives the pronunciation; it originally meant a large bull.

Open 特 →

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

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

Open 利 →

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 →
Appears in
City & Urban

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