黑海 (Hēi Hǎi) — Black Sea | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

Black Sea

Examples

黑海。
Hēi Hǎi Wèi yú ōu zhōu hé yà zhōu zhī jiān.
The Black Sea is located between Europe and Asia.
黑海。
Xià tiān hěn duō rén qù Hēi Hǎi dù jià.
Many people go to the Black Sea for vacation in the summer.
黑海。
Hēi Hǎi Yán àn yǒu xǔ duō měi lì de chéng shì.
There are many beautiful cities along the coast of the Black Sea.

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.

黑 means black and 海 means sea, naming the Black Sea.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 黑 seems to come from drawing a head marked with dots, usually read as facial tattoos.

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

氵每海

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

每

每měi海hǎi

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

海 pairs 氵 (water) with 每, which gives the sound. The 氵 side shows it is about water.

Appears in

Geography & Landforms

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