达科他 (dá kē tā) — Dakota (region or state in the US)

Definition

达科他 is the Chinese transliteration of 'Dakota' — the name of a Native American people and also of two US states (North Dakota and South Dakota).

noun
Dakota (region or state in the US)

Examples

  • 达科他。
    Wǒ qù nián qù le nán dá kē tā lǚ yóu.
    I went to South Dakota for travel last year.
  • 达科他。
    dá kē tā Zhōu de fēng jǐng fēi cháng měi lì.
    The scenery of Dakota is very beautiful.
  • 达科他。
    dá kē tā Zhè ge míng zì lái zì yí gè yìn dì ān bù luò.
    This name Dakota comes from an Indian tribe.

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.

达dá
科kē
他tā

The characters 达科他 transliterate the foreign name Dakota and carry no meaning of their own.

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
辶Written in full as辵chuò
Sound part声符shēngfú
大
大dà达dá
Same sound today

This form 达 pairs 辶 (written in full as 辵) with 大 as a sound component.

Open 达 →

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
斗斗dòumeasuring tool
Sound part声符shēngfú
禾
禾hé科kē
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

科 pairs 禾, which gives the hé sound, with 斗, a measuring tool.

Open 科 →

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
亻Written in full as人rénman
Sound part声符shēngfú
也
也yě他tā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

他 combines 亻 (a person) with 也, which was chosen for its sound.

Open 他 →

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