魁北克省 (kuí běi kè shěng) — Quebec province (in Canada)

Definition

noun

Quebec province (in Canada)

魁北克省。
Wǒ míng nián xiǎng qù kuí běi kè shěng lǚ yóu.
I want to travel to Quebec province next year.
魁北克省。
kuí běi kè shěng De shǒu fǔ shì kuí běi kè shì.
The capital of Quebec province is Quebec City.
魁北克省。
Tā zài kuí běi kè shěng de yì suǒ dà xué xué xí fǎ yǔ.
He studies French at a university in Quebec province.

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.

鬼斗魁

Meaning part形符xíngfú

斗斗dòuladle

Sound part声符shēngfú

鬼

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

魁 pairs 斗, a ladle, with 鬼, which supplies the sound. The evidence identifies the original thing as a soup ladle.

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

The form 北 shows two people standing back to back. It originally meant 'back'.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

The upper part of 省 is a changed form of 生, which gave the sound, while the lower 目 is an eye; the picture showed looking closely or inspecting.