西班牙语 (Xī bān yá yǔ) — Spanish (language) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

Spanish (language)

Examples

西班牙语。
Wǒ zhèng zài xué xí Xī bān yá yǔ.
I am learning Spanish.
西班牙语。
Tā huì shuō liú lì de Xī bān yá yǔ.
She speaks fluent Spanish.
西班牙语。
Xī bān yá yǔ Shì yì zhǒng fēi cháng yōu měi de yǔ yán.
Spanish is a very beautiful language.

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.

西班牙Spain

西xī班bān牙yá

语yǔlanguage

西班牙 spells the foreign name for Spain, and 语 means language, together naming the language of Spain.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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

珏珏juépieces of jade
刀刀dāoknife

班 shows 珏, pieces of jade, and 刀, a knife, cutting them into pieces.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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 語; 语 is its simplified writing.

言吾語

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

吾

吾wú語yǔ

Same sound today

The form 語 pairs 言 (speech) with 吾, which gives the sound; this note is about 語, not 语.

Appears in

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