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麦凯恩 (Mài kǎi ēn) — John McCain (American politician, 1936–2018)

Definition

noun
John McCain (American politician, 1936–2018)

Examples

  • 麦凯恩，2008。
    Mài kǎi ēn Shì yí wèi měi guó zhèng zhì jiā, céng cān jiā 2008 nián zǒng tǒng xuǎn jǔ.
    John McCain was an American politician who ran in the 2008 presidential election.
  • 麦凯恩。
    Hěn duō měi guó rén duì Mài kǎi ēn de lí shì gǎn dào fēi cháng wǎn xī.
    Many Americans felt great regret at John McCain's passing.
  • 麦凯恩，。
    Mài kǎi ēn Zài cān yì yuàn gōng zuò duō nián, shì yí wèi bèi shòu zūn jìng de yì yuán.
    John McCain served in the Senate for many years and was a highly respected senator.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
音译yīnyìTransliteration

The characters spell the sound of a foreign word; their individual meanings play no part.

麦mài
凯kǎi
恩ēn

The characters 麦 凯 恩 carry no meaning of their own here; together they spell the foreign name McCain.

Sound-only characters

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 麥; 麦 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
夊夊suīfootprint pointing down; to walk slowly
Sound part声符shēngfú
來
來lái麥mài
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

For 麦, the traditional form 麥 pairs 來, which gives the sound and once meant wheat, with 夊, a footprint pointing down for slow walking.

Open 麦 →

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 凱; 凯 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
豈豈qǐdrum
Sound part声符shēngfú
几
几jǐ凱kǎi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 凱 may have been built from 豈, a drum, and 几 to give the sound; the simplified 凯 is a later abbreviation.

Open 凯 →

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
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
因
因yīn恩ēn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

恩 puts 因, which gives the sound, beside 心, a heart.

Open 恩 →
Appears in
Fish & Aquatic Life

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