长滩 (cháng tān) — Long Beach (place name, e.g., city in Californi…

Definition

noun

Long Beach (place name, e.g., city in California)

长滩。
Wǒ míng nián xiǎng qù cháng tān lǚ yóu.
I want to travel to Long Beach next year.
长滩。
cháng tān De hǎi tān fēi cháng piào liang.
Long Beach's beaches are very beautiful.
长滩。
Tā zài cháng tān zhù le wǔ nián.
He lived in Long Beach for five years.

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.

长 means long and 滩 means beach or shoal, so 长滩 names a long stretch of beach.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 長; 长 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 長 pictures an old man with long hair. The simplified 长 is a later shorthand, so its strokes do not show that original picture.

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 灘; 滩 is its simplified writing.

氵難灘

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

難

難nán灘tān

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 灘, 氵 (water) marks the meaning and 難 gives the sound; the simplified 滩 is a shorthand.

Appears in