长野 (Cháng yě) — Nagano (Japanese city and prefecture)

Definition

Proper noun: Nagano, a prefecture and city in central Japan, known for the 1998 Winter Olympics and ski resorts.

noun

Nagano (Japanese city and prefecture)

长野。
Wǒ míng nián xiǎng qù Cháng yě huá xuě.
I want to go skiing in Nagano next year.
长野，。
Cháng yě Zài rì běn hěn yǒu míng, yīn wèi nà lǐ yǒu shān.
Nagano is famous in Japan because it has mountains.
长野。
Yī jiǔ jiǔ bā nián de dōng ào huì zài Cháng yě jǔ xíng.
The 1998 Winter Olympics were held in Nagano.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

土土tǔearth

Sound part声符shēngfú

予

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

野 combines 田 (field) above 土 (earth) to show open country, with 予 giving the sound.