那不勒斯 (Nà bù lè sī) — Naples

Definition

noun
Naples
Measure word · 座

Examples

  • 那不勒斯。
    Wǒ míng nián xiǎng qù Nà bù lè sī lǚ yóu.
    I want to travel to Naples next year.
  • 那不勒斯。
    Nà bù lè sī Shì yì dà lì nán bù de yí zuò chéng shì.
    Naples is a city in southern Italy.
  • 那不勒斯。
    Nà bù lè sī De hǎi xiān fēi cháng xīn xiān.
    The seafood in Naples is very fresh.

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.

那nà
不bù
勒lè
斯sī

The characters 那不勒斯 only spell the foreign name Naples; they carry no separate meanings 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
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 →

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

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Open 不 →

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
革革gé
Sound part声符shēngfú
力
力lì勒lè
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

勒 pairs 革 (leather), because bridles are made of leather, with 力, which gives the sound.

Open 勒 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 斯 →

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