近郊 (jìn jiāo) — inner suburbs, outskirts near a city | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

The suburbs close to a city — close enough for a short commute, unlike the distant 远郊.

noun

inner suburbsoutskirts near a city

Examples

近郊，。
Tā jiā zhù zài jìn jiāo, kāi chē bàn xiǎo shí dào shì zhōng xīn.
His home is in the inner suburbs, a half-hour drive to the city center.
近郊。
Zhè ge jìn jiāo de fáng jià bǐ shì zhōng xīn pián yi hěn duō.
Housing prices in these inner suburbs are much cheaper than in the city center.
近郊。
Zhōu mò wǒ men qù jìn jiāo pá shān ba.
Let's go hiking in the suburbs this weekend.

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.

郊jiāosuburbs

近 “near” and 郊 “suburbs” combine to mean the suburbs close to a city.

Characters in this word

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

辶斤近

Meaning part形符xíngfú

辶Written in full as辵chuòwalk

Sound part声符shēngfú

斤

斤jīn近jìn

Same sound today

近 combines 辶, a walking radical, with 斤, which gives the sound. The walking part fits the idea of moving close to something.

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

交阝郊

Meaning part形符xíngfú

阝Written in full as邑yì

Sound part声符shēngfú

交

交jiāo郊jiāo

Same sound today

郊 pairs the meaning part 邑 (written as 阝) with 交, the sound part.

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