辛辛那提 (xīn xīn nà tí) — Cincinnati

Definition

noun

Cincinnati

Examples

辛辛那提。
Wǒ cóng lái méi qù guò xīn xīn nà tí.
I have never been to Cincinnati.
辛辛那提。
xīn xīn nà tí Shì měi guó é hài é zhōu de yí gè chéng shì.
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio.
辛辛那提，。
Tā chū shēng zài xīn xīn nà tí, hòu lái bān dào le niǔ yuē.
He was born in Cincinnati and later moved to New York.

Origin

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The oldest forms of 辛 drew a newly grown tree shoot. The shape was later also read as a sharp marking tool, but that reading may come from confusing it with another character.

Open 辛 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The oldest forms of 辛 drew a newly grown tree shoot. The shape was later also read as a sharp marking tool, but that reading may come from confusing it with another character.

Open 辛 →

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

邑邑yìcity

Sound part声符shēngfú

冄

冉rǎn那nà

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

The right part 邑 shows a city, and the left part 冄 (written 冉) gives the sound. The character first named a state and was later used to mean 'that'.

Open 那 →

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

扌是提