阿肯色州 (A kěn sè zhōu) — Arkansas (US state)

Definition

noun

Arkansas (US state)

阿肯色州。
A kěn sè zhōu Shì měi guó nán bù de yí gè zhōu.
Arkansas is a state in the southern United States.
阿肯色州，。
Tā chū shēng zài A kěn sè zhōu, hòu lái bān dào le niǔ yuē.
He was born in Arkansas and later moved to New York.
阿肯色州？
Nǐ tīng shuō guò A kěn sè zhōu de shǒu fǔ shì xiǎo shí chéng ma?
Have you heard that the capital of Arkansas is Little Rock?

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.

阿肯色Arkansas

音译Transliteration

阿肯色 spells Arkansas, and 州 adds the idea of a state.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

阜阜fù

Sound part声符shēngfú

可

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

The part 阜 points to a mound, and 可 gives the pronunciation; 阿 originally meant a big mound.

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

肯 is described as showing 冎 (bone) and 肉 (meat), meaning meat attached to the bone.

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

色 pairs 爪 (a hand) with 卩 (a kneeling person), showing a hand pressing down on the kneeling person.

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

州 originally drew an islet in a river.