闹市区 (nào shì ōu) — downtown area, busy commercial district | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

downtown areabusy commercial district

Measure word · 个

Examples

闹市区，。
Wǒ zhù zài nào shì ōu, měi tiān dōu hěn rè nao.
I live in the downtown area, which is very lively every day.
闹市区，。
Zhè jiā diàn zài nào shì ōu, rén hěn duō.
This store is in the busy commercial district; there are many people.
闹市区。
nào shì ōu Jīng cháng dǔ chē.
The downtown area often has traffic jams.

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.

闹市bustling market

闹nàobustling市shìmarket

偏正Modifier + head

闹市 is a bustling market, and 区 marks it as an area.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 鬧; 闹 is its simplified writing.

鬥市鬧

鬥鬥dòuto fight
市市shìmarket; town

The traditional form 鬧 combines 鬥 (to fight) and 市 (market; town) to mean noisy.

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

兮兮xībustling

Sound part声符shēngfú

之

之zhī市shì

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

The old form 市 pairs 兮, meaning bustling, with 之, the sound part.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 區; 区 is its simplified writing.

匸匸xì
品品pǐn

The traditional form 區 is made from 匸 and 品; the simplified 区 is a shorthand.

Appears in

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.